Sustainability of Health Insurance in Costa Rica: A Multi-dimensional Analysis of its Definition

Abstract

Costa Rican society has experienced certain changes in demographic and epidemiological patterns since the establishment of its current health system, which poses challenges for the [public] health insurance’s permanence as it has been managed thus far. Therefore, the authorities of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social [Costa Rican Social Security Fund] have ventured into the conceptual challenge of defining what health insurance sustainability means and what measures should be implemented in order to achieve it. With the purpose of contributing to the discussion on the subject, this essay aims to analyze the aforementioned definition from the dimensions that compose it (deconstruction) and reconstruct the concept of health insurance sustainability with a synthesis of the key elements.