SANTIAGO, Chile – Newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet said Monday that all Chileans older than 60 will immediately begin receiving free care at public hospitals.
“This will become effective immediately, today or tomorrow,” the Socialist physician said at a news conference. “This is possible because it does not require a law.”
It was not immediately clear whether the plan would be restricted to emergency cases. Further details were to be announced later, and some local news media reported that it would probably extend only to people registered with the state insurance system.
According the last national census in 2002, 1.7 million people of Chile's 16 million people are older than 60.
No comments:
Post a Comment