Conference on Healthcare and Socio-Economic Development in Latin America

RAND organized a two-day conference in Chile focusing on healthcare, labor markets, social security, and factors influencing economic growth and development (such as education and access to healthcare) in Latin American countries, with an emphasis on Chile. The impact of government policymaking and institutions on Latin and South American development was the unifying theme of the conference.

The School of Economics and Business at the University of Chile, the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) served as co-hosts of the conference.

The goal of the conference was to forge new relationships with researchers and policymakers in Chile and expand RAND's research in the region. UNDP provided the bulk of the financial support. The conference was attended by researchers from RAND, the IADB, the University of Chile, the Catholic University of Chile, Brown University, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Southern California, and Yale University. Several policymakers from the Chilean Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Health participated as panelists.

The first day of the conference focused on healthcare issues, such as the environment and its effects of health; prevention; human resources in the healthcare market; and the health insurance system in Chile. The two discussion panels focused on the health challenges faced by Chile, such as prevention and human resources, and on health reforms in Chile and their effects on pricing and competition.

The presentations on the second day were on general socio-economic development, such as education and social security issues. Key topics included the quality of education and its impact on performance, college choices and the incentives to attract the best students, and the social programs and evaluations of them in Latin America. On this day too there were two discussion panels, on the challenges of the Chilean education system and the lessons learned from other countries, and the future of social programs.

The panels on both days comprised policymakers, industry representatives, and researchers. Participants from the Chilean government included Jaime Mañalich, minister of Health; Augusto Iglesias, subsecretary of the Social Protection Ministry; Luis Romero, superintendent of health; Francisco Santelices Lorca, director of the Department of Plan and Development at Fondo Nacional de Salud (FONASA), the public insurer of health care; and Andrea Rolla from the Ministry of Education.

Participants from RAND included Arie Kapteyn, director of Labor and Population; Krishna Kumar, director of Research and Policy in International Development (RAPID); Emma Aguila, director of the RAND Center for Latin American Social Policy (CLASP); Mireille Jacobson, deputy director of RAND Health's Economics, Finance, and Organization; Lucrecia Santibanez; Kathryn Derose; Homero Martinez; Srikanth Kadiyala; and Fabian Duarte.

In addition to planning and participating in the academic conference, RAND researchers also organized introductory meetings with government officials in Chile. Meetings were held at the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the Ministry of Education, FONASA, and the Superintendency of Health (the regulator of the private health insurance system