Transformation of medical-hospital services in Puerto Rico from 1993 until 2010

On 1993, the Government of Puerto Rico had been providing direct healthcare services for almost 50 years. Because of raising costs of healthcare technology, the government officers decided to stop financing direct healthcare services transforming its role to one of an insurer. It has been 18 (2010) years since the approval of the Puerto Rico Healthcare Reform of 1993 and the question still lies in public discussions and on professional meetings; Has the Government achieve all the objectives of the Healthcare Reform of 1993?. To effectively achieve an evaluation of the public policy approved on that year; Public reports, internal reports, budget data, federal reports, third sector information and official databases are used to assess the progress of the Healthcare Reform given the three main objectives which were; the elimination of the public healthcare system, the reduction of public expenditures on healthcare services thus transforming the role of the government from a service provider to one of service insurer. The analysis allowed the investigator to conclude that the objective of the healthcare reform had not been met by 2010. After a thorough analysis the investigation allows to reach the conclusion of the almost total failure of the healthcare reform.