Past, present and future of pediatric cardiology health care in México

The Constitution of the United States of Mexico, in its Article Number 4, provides for the right to health care. The government's National Health Program was created to comply with this mandate. This program comprises a National Health Care System. This system has three branches. The first one is Social Security, which encompasses 50% of the population of Mexico—namely 45 million affiliates. Out of this popu lation, 10 million are under the “Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social-Solidaridad.”This program is financed by federal resources, is self-managed by the “Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social” and provides health care to the general population (basically farmers). The rest of the population that receives benefits from the Social Security System includes employees, blue-collar workers (affiliated with the “Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social“), federal and state-government workers (who receive benefit from “Instituto de Seguridad Social de los Trabajadores al Servicio del Estado”) and the military personnel (who are affiliated with the “Instituto de Seguridad Social de las Fuerzas Armadas”). These institutes are jointly financed by employers, the state, and the workers.The payment percentage is established depending on the worker's income. For state workers and armed forces it represents 2% of the income of the employee and another 2% is paid by the state; those depending on die Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social pay 3.5% of their salary and 8.4% is paid by die employer.