A comparative analysis of stakeholder power in the Mexican and U.S. health care systems

The primary focus of this paper is to analyze the Mexican health care system and the forces driving its change. To facilitate this, the paper conducts an analysis of the key stakeholders in both the U.S. and Mexican health care systems. The Mexican system is dominated by an autocratic federal government that is gradually relinquishing its role as provider of health care in exchange for control of the reform efforts. The U.S. system is characterized by a relatively equal distribution of power among the key stakeholders, in which changes occur primarily through incrementalism. The results of the analysis indicate that the key differences lie in terms of relative stakeholder power and rate of change in the systems. Compared with the U.S.,Mexico is making rapid changes to its health care system and both countries are struggling with the same key issues: Cost, access, and quality.