Health in Chile: is the government doing everything it can to achieve social justice?

This paper analyzes the main characteristics and problems of Chile's health care system focusing specifically on the Plan AUGE implemented by President Lagos in 2004. The paper provides a brief history of Chile's health care policies, as well as a summary of the legacy of the market oriented policies of the Pinochet regime (1973-1989). The paper discusses how the democratically elected regimes have dealt with the question of health given the Pinochet legacy and the drastic reductions in the role of the state in the provision of health and other social services. The most serious attempt to solve this problem took place in 2004 through the establishment of the Plan AUGE which contains an innovative approach to health. Since the full implementation of the plan did not begin until mid 2007, the paper can only provide a preliminary analysis of AUGE's effects and prospects. The paper concludes that while the Bachelet administration needs to be commended for large increases in the health budget, there is still a lot to be done to resolve the huge differences in quality and availability of care between the urban and the rural areas and the AUGE and the Non-AUGE patients.