Seguro Popular: Incidence Analysis

This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of the distribution at the household level of benefits from the Sistema de Protección Social en Salud (SPSS), or Seguro Popular, in its initial phase of operations. This health protection scheme was introduced in 2003, through a mayor reform of the Ley General de Salud in Mexico. This is the first benefit incidence analysis available for this program, based on nationally representative household survey data, independent from the administrative records of the program. The paper also evaluates the effects on the use of public health services, private (out-of-pocket) health spending, and catastrophic health expenditures among poorer households.