The study offers an analytic approach tofundamental questions concerning the effect of the agingpopulation on the Chilean health system, and, to theprospects for, and the extent of financing health care forthe elderly, as presumably catastrophic costs are linked tothis effect. However, the study reveals that catastrophiccare is not a problem primarily affecting the elderly, sinceinterventions show that, rather the highest costly episodesoccur among infants. It is specified that technologicalchange introduced the possibility of delivering care, atvery high cost, to infants who would otherwise die, orsuffer congenital disorders, and it is this change whichshaped the current age distribution of catastrophic care.Under the country's health insurance system, thelargest group is covered by the public system, while asmaller group is privately insured. However, the studyreveals that significant numbers of catastrophic infantevents are assisted in public facilities, regardless ofpatient's affiliation. This implies that apparently thepublic system does assume disproportionate catastrophicburdens, where the elderly are neither the sole, nor mostsubstantial drain on public resources, suggesting privateinsurance could attract the stable, elderly population, andthus mitigate the financial conditions of the public health system.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
