Together with experts from the Medical Association and the Program for Social Studies in Health of the Institute of Sciences and Innovation in Medicine (ICIM) of the Universidad de Desarrollo, the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM) published a study that aimed to show under what conditions access to health is similar between Chileans and migrants, and in which there are differences.
According to the research, the percentage of people without health protection in migrants continues to be higher, which occurs regardless of sex, age group, macro area of residence, income decile, among other characteristics.
Despite the fact that the measurement exposed greater similarities between Chileans and migrants than in its previous versions of 2015 and 2017, in terms of affiliation to a health insurance system —be it Fonasa, Isapre or another— for the Casen 2020 Survey, the The situation is aggravated when it comes to foreigners without institutional support networks.
According to the study led by researcher Pablo Roessler, with special emphasis on the northern region, one in five foreigners without institutional support networks does not have access to health insurance.
For the head of Studies of the SJM, it is necessary to specify that “higher levels of migrants without access to the pension system were observed in the great north and in those who lack institutional networks. For example, Roessler points out, 16% of foreigners Residents of the Great North state that they do not have a pension system, which corresponds to 4% of the Chilean people who live there.
Regarding the lack of access to networks, “if while in 2020 10% of migrants who received subsidies were not enrolled in any pension system, the figure rises to 20% among foreigners who did not access subsidies, understanding this link as a mode of institutional support from central and local governments”; details the sociologist and master’s degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
From the Medical Association, Matías Libuy, Coordinator of the Health and Migrants Commission, commented that “the percentage of people who, having had an accident or illness, did not access medical consultations or care tends to be even between Chileans and migrants in similar situations. With this, it is seen that the field of access to health is equal in Chileans and migrants who have formal jobs and who have social security, and although in both groups the lack of access rises when they are inserted in informal jobs or when there is no social security system , this is more critical in the foreign population”.
Regarding the conclusions, Báltica Cabieses, from the Program for Social Studies in Health, Institute of Sciences and Innovation in Medicine (ICIM), of the Universidad del Desarrollo, referred to the conclusions of this document, highlighting that “we ended up reflecting on how the Situations of greater vulnerability, although they affect both the access to health of migrants and Chileans, affect foreigners more intensely. Effective safe, orderly and regular migration can help bridge these gaps.”
The research entitled “Casen and Migration: Advances and gaps in access to health of the migrant population residing in Chile” aimed to characterize the insertion of the migrant population in the Chilean health system, identifying gaps for the local community.
