Health Care in Chile

Chile has maintained a dual health care system in which its citizens can voluntarily opt for coverage by either the public National Health Insurance Fund or any of the country's private health insurance companies. 68% of the population is covered by the public fund and 18% by private companies. The remaining 14% is covered by other not-for-profit agencies or has no specific coverage. The system's duality has led to increasing inequalities prompting the Chilean government to introduce major reforms in health care provision. Chile's health care system is funded by a universal income tax deduction equal to 7% of every worker's wage. Many private health insurance companies encourage people to pay a variable extra on top of the 7% premium to upgrade their basic health plans. Because of this arrangement, the public and private health subsystems have existed almost completely separate from each other rather than coordinating to achieve common health objectives.