8 JULY 2025THE JUDICIALIZATION OF HEALTHCARE IN ARGENTINABy Francisco Clucellas, Compliance Manager, Grupo OSDEDuring the last three decades, various Latin American countries have seen an exponential increase in lawsuits related to the coverage of medications and medical treatments. A key factor in this trend is the pressure exerted by the pharmaceutical and medical supply industries, which seek to rapidly introduce new products and services into the market--often by encouraging patients to file lawsuits to secure coverage.Argentina's experience is particularly illustrative. After more than 15 years of litigating numerous medical service coverage cases, I have observed the complex interplay among different actors in the country's healthcare system. In Argentina, the population can access healthcare services through two systems: 1) Private system: Through an "Obra Social" (similar to employer-sponsored insurance) or an "Empresa de medicina prepaga" (similar to an HMO), whose resources come from the mandatory contributions of all formally employed workers or from the private purchase of a healthcare service 2) Public system: Through the coverage the State provides for individuals who neither work nor purchase a healthcare service.In the private system, obras sociales and empresas de medicina prepaga are subject to regulations that specify which medications and treatments they must provide. These regulations, which I call "healthcare legislation," serve as the regulatory framework for these private entities.In contrast to the private system, the public system does not have specific healthcare legislation that explicitly details the health services it must cover. Instead, the State has a constitutional mandate to guarantee the right to health for the general population.It´s essential to specify the extent of this constitutional mandate and how to balance the potentially unlimited demand for healthcare services with limited resources. In this context, the pressures exerted by the medical industry Francisco ClucellasIN MY OPINION
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