Argentina limits free hospital care for nonresident foreigners

Argentina's federal government will no longer finance hospital care for nonresident foreigners, President Javier Milei's office announced Tuesday, moving ahead with a cost-cutting order issued last year.

A presidential spokesperson said the change would not affect life-saving emergency care, which officials said must not be delayed. The Health Ministry said emergencies including cardiac arrest, heart attacks, strokes, severe trauma, massive hemorrhages, extensive burns and obstetric, pediatric or neonatal emergencies would remain free of charge.

The measure may have limited reach because Argentina's health system is largely run by individual provinces, except for some regional hospitals managed at the federal level.

Milei has argued that Argentina's cash-strapped state should not provide free health care to foreigners who do not pay tax. His spokesperson said the measure targets "medical tourism," described as people entering Argentina, receiving treatment at a public hospital and then leaving. The official did not provide an estimate of its scale.

Opponents say the measure is an excuse for Milei's libertarian government to underfund public health. Nicolas Kreplak, health minister of opposition-governed Buenos Aires province, said Tuesday that nonresident foreigners account for 0.4 percent of emergency room visits and 0.5 percent of hospitalizations.

"The health care system is overburdened due to a lack of resources, not because of foreigners," Kreplak said.