INSABI Spent 15 Percent Less Between January and May 2022

Mexico’s Health for Wellness Institute (INSABI) decreased its spent budget during the first five months of 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP). Between January and May 2022 INSABI spent MX$26.1 billion (US$1.27 billion), a 15 percent decrease year over year.

“This has had implications and reduced the number of consultations. 2014 was the best year for consultations and for people without social security; there were around 159 million consultations and since then there has been a slight drop,” said Jorge Cano, Consultant, Mexico Evalua. The non-governmental organization stated that during the first five months of 2022, INSABI has performed about 5.84 million medical consultations, while there were 8.61 million during the same period of 2021.

INSABI was created in 2020 to substitute Seguro Popular and bring healthcare services to those who do not have social security. However, its registered users and expenses have steadily decreased since 2017, when it operated as Seguro Popular. In the first five months of 2018, its expenses decreased by 81 percent in comparison to the same period of 2017, reports Mexico Evalua.

Between January and May 2022, medical consultations for chronic degenerative diseases, for example, decreased by 41 percent for a total of 1.32 million. During that period in 2021, there were 2.26 million medical visits.

Mexico Evalua also reported that the consultations for women decreased by 34 percent, with only 2 million medical services done in that period. In men, the number went down to 692,000, 29 percent less. Seniors over 60 years old were the most affected, with the number of consultations falling by 38 percent.

The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) reports that the physical investment in healthcare (the investment for infrastructure, transportation equipment, furniture and other supplies) increased by 42.4 percent during the first five months of 2022 for a total of MX$4.25 billion (US$207 million). However, this budget is smaller than during the previous administration. In 2018, the physical investment was MX$7.5 billion (US$635 million).

The expenditure in functional health, which includes all the major health institutes in Mexico, Institute of Social Security (IMSS), Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) and the Ministry of Health (SSA), accumulates a decrease of 5.1 percent mainly due to a cut in the budget for subsidies and transfers.

SHCP’s Public Finance and Debt Report for the first four months of 2022, showed that the Minister of Health has an approved budget of MX$59.84 billion (US$2.92 billion) but it actually spent MX$18.7 billion (US$911.345 million).