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Horizontal Inequity in Access to Health Care in Four South American Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Balsa

    (Health Economics Research Group, Department of Sociology, University of Miami)

  • Máximo Rossi

    (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República)

  • Patricia Triunfo

    (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República)

Abstract

This paper analyzes and compares socioeconomic inequalities in the use of healthcare services by the elderly in four South-American cities: Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo and San Pablo. We use data from SABE, a survey on Health, Well-being and Aging administered in 2000. After having accounted for socioeconomic inequalities in healthcare needs, we find socioeconomic inequities favoring the rich in the use of preventive services (mammograms, pap tests, breast examinations, and prostate exams) in all of the studied cities. We also find inequities in the likelihood of having a medical visit in Santiago and Montevideo, and in some measures of quality of access in Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. Santiago depicts the highest inequities in medical visits and Uruguay the worse indicators in mammograms and pap scans tests. For all cities, inequities in preventive services at least double inequities in other services. We do not find evidence of a trade-off between levels of access and equity in access to healthcare services. The decomposition of healthcare inequalities suggests that inequities within each health system are more important than between systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Balsa & Máximo Rossi & Patricia Triunfo, 2009. "Horizontal Inequity in Access to Health Care in Four South American Cities," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1509, Department of Economics - dECON.
    • Handle: RePEc:ude:wpaper:1509
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    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/2132
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cecilia González & Patricia Triunfo, 2018. "Inequidad en el acceso a los servicios de salud en Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0718, Department of Economics - dECON.
    2. Shreya Banerjee & Indrani Roy Chowdhury, 2020. "Inequities in curative health-care utilization among the adult population (20–59 years) in India: A comparative analysis of NSS 71st (2014) and 75th (2017–18) rounds," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Fiorillo Damiano & Sabatini Fabio, 2011. "Quality and quantity: The role of social interactions in individual health," wp.comunite 0073, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    4. Alfredo Palacios & Julia Gabosi & Caitlin Williams & Carlos Rojas-Roque, 2021. "Social vulnerability, exposure to environmental risk factors and accessibility to healthcare services: Evidence for 2,000+ slums and informal settlements in Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4502, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    5. Sachita Nanda Sa & Mehajabin Firdosh, 2021. "Impact of Health Seeking Behaviour on Morbidity Pattern and Health Service Utilization among Muslim Women: A Case Study of Balasore Municipalty, Odisha," Journal of Studies in Dynamics and Change (JSDC), ISSN: 2348-7038, Voices of Inclusive Change and Expressions- (VOICE) Trust, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, vol. 8(2), pages 25-39, April-Jun.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequalities; healthcare; medical visit; preventive services;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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