Americans living in Mexico praise 'Seguro Popular' universal health care

If Mexico can do it, why can't we?

Just out in the medical journal The Lancet is a sweeping look at how Mexico brought in universal coverage, and the health benefits the country reaped, including significant drops in the death rates among babies and children and mothers. A Lancet editorial concludes that Mexico has demonstrated that universal coverage, “as well as being ethically the right thing to do, is the smart thing to do.”

This country chose to believe in the fact that people’s access to health care should not be defined by where they work but rather by their need for health care. Number two, in addition to this being a right, a social entitlement, it was good for human development, for social development, for economic development, to make sure people were not going bankrupt and suffering impoverishment and catastrophe from trying to figure out how to manage the cost of health care.”

“I think number one is the reduction in the proportion of families that are suffering catastrophic impoverishment from health care spending. There are also some very impressive numbers on improvement in effective coverage” — coverage of vaccinations, and cervical cancer screening, and more.

Full article here.