94. Bertranou F M. (1999), ‘Are Market –Oriented Health Insurance Reforms Possible in Latin America? The Case of Argentina, Chile and Colombia’, Health Policy, 47:19-36.

The paper draws lessons from comparing certain characteristics and performance of health care reform across nations. This paper studies market-oriented health insurance reforms in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile and Colombia. Chile allowed private health insurers to compete for workers payroll contributions in the 1980s, permitting the modernization of the private health sector but relatively impoverishing the public health sector as a consequence of selection practices by private carriers. In the 1990s, Argentina and Colombia started liberalizing the health insurance sector but using policies to avoid the adverse effects encountered in the Chilean experience. While scrutinizing these policies the authors also highlight the challenges and future of health insurance reform processes.