Old-Age Security and Health Care for the Poor in Latin America

This paper reviews the literature and available data on social assistance pensions and health care for the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); the same is done on social insurance for some low-income workers with special labor conditions who are difficult to cover and are not entitled to social assistance. The paper is divided into six sections: (1) concepts, topics included and scarcity of data; (2) legal and statistical coverage of the target population on health care and pensions; (3) entitlement conditions and benefits in the two areas; (4) financing of the programs, including the overall cost of social assistance, its three sources of revenue, the needed financial aid to incorporate the special labor groups, and the impact of such programs on income distribution; (5) administration of the programs and important issues such as decentralization and participation; and (6) a summary of current problems and recommendations of the paper, an exploration of potential future problems, and a description of two important recent types of social assistance reform: Brazil and Costa Rica. Seven statistical tables compile all available data on social assistance programs in