190297 Salud Migrante: Developing a proposal through binational health systems integration

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 3:30 PM

Miguel Ángel González Block, BA, MA, Dr Sci , Executive Director, INSP – Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (National Institute of Public Health), Cuernavaca, Morelos 62508, Mexico
     
Nearly 12 million Mexican citizens reside in the US and contribute as much as US$23 billion annually to the Mexican economy through their remittances. Only 45% have access to health insurance of any type, with the rest representing 13% of the total uninsured population north of the border.

Uninsured migrants pose severe problems on both sides of the border, among which, non-reimbursed expenses in the US, postponed medical care, chronic unattended conditions and obligated repatriation for those who are ill. Consequences in Mexico include high expenditures in mostly low-quality private health services. On both sides, migrants and their families are exposed to catastrophic medical expenses.

Under the auspices of the Ford Foundation, the Mexico National Institute of Public Health (INSP) has worked with health service providers, analysts and researchers from both sides of the border to elaborate a SALUD MIGRANTE binational health insurance proposal. Now, after a year's work, the INSP has been entrusted by the Mexico Minister of Health with a mandate to lead a pilot effort of the proposal in selected US and Mexican states.

This presentation will share the results of our work and demonstrate the need for and the feasibility of SALUD MIGRANTE as an instrument for providing health insurance benefits in both countries by functionally articulating the private non-profit health system in the north with the public health system in the south.

Learning Objectives:
Attendees will: (1) acquire knowledge about Mexican migrant healthcare and insurance requirements, access and affiliation capacity as well as US and Mexican care and insurance provider potential to attend such circumstances jointly; (2) identify which areas in both countries’ health systems need strengthening to meet said requirements, and (3) develop a well founded perspective regarding their own participation, level of efficiency and potential role in such an effort.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator-author of the SALUD MIGRANTE proposal for binational health insurance. Additionally, my education and work (including over 80 publications) for the past 25 years have focused on sociology, public health, health system policies, research and regional reforms, as well as strategic development.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Binational Health Insurance: Prescription for Binational Health Care
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