Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42098933›Full record

ArticleHealth policy and planning2026

Financial protection in flux: longitudinal evidence on out-of-pocket spending among middle-aged and older Mexicans during the 'Seguro Popular'-INSABI transition.

Jose Eduardo Cabrero-Castro, Marissa Gonzalez, Emma Aguila, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Michael Touchton, Felicia Marie Knaul, Alfonso Rojas-Alvarez

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy and planning, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jose Eduardo Cabrero-CastroDepartment of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-4976-1989
Marissa GonzalezDepartment of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.
Emma AguilaSol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall 311, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, United States.
Héctor Arreola-OrnelasUnidad de Políticas Públicas en Salud, Instituto de Investigación sobre la Obesidad, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 COL. Tecnolgico 64700 Monterrey, NL, Mexico.
Michael TouchtonDepartment of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Avenue Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States.
Felicia Marie KnaulFundación Mexicana Para la Salud (FUNSALUD), A.C., Anillo Perif. 4809, Arenal Tepepan, Tlalpan, 14610 Mexico City, Mexico.
Alfonso Rojas-AlvarezDepartment of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.

Funding

The Mexican Health and Aging Study - IIR01AG018016 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · PI Rebeca Wong · 1999 to 2026
$22.6M
UTEP FIRST: United Toward Equity and Progress: Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable TransformationU54CA280922 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS EL PASO · PI CORRAL, GUADALUPE, KENNEY, MICHAEL J · 2023 to 2024
$5.4M
INEGI in MexicoMHAS is supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging R01AG018016NCI NIH HHS U54 CA280922NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018016University of Texas at El Paso by the National Institutes of HealthUTEP FIRST 1U54CA280922
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mexico is ageing rapidly, placing growing strain on health financing and long-term care systems. Older adults face a double burden: higher healthcare needs due to chronic conditions and multimorbidity, and limited or informal income in later life, leaving them highly exposed to out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. In 2020, the government replaced 'Seguro Popular' (SP) with the 'Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar' (INSABI) to strengthen financial protection, but its implications on older adults remain unclear. We analysed OOP among 13 616 individuals aged ≥50 years in the Mexican Health and Aging Study, interviewed in 2018 and 2021. Expenditures for hospitalizations, outpatient procedures, medical visits and medications in the previous 12 months were indexed to inflation and converted to 2021 US dollars. Tobit models estimated total and component OOP, including an interaction between insurance category (Uninsured; Social Security-IMSS/ISSSTE/PEMEX/Defence; SP 2018/INSABI 2021; Other) and survey year, adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates. Between 2018 and 2021 the proportion of older adults reporting no health insurance tripled from 9.5% to 27.2%, while SP affiliation fell from 30.1% to 10.9%. Social Security beneficiaries spent substantially less than the uninsured on total OOP (about US$1 033 less in 2018 and US$539 less in 2021). SP in 2018 and INSABI in 2021 were also associated with lower OOP (-US$291 and -US$298 versus the uninsured, respectively). Only Social Security was associated with a statistically significant reduction in medication-related OOP. Overall, the transition from SP to INSABI coincided with a marked rise in reported uninsurance and persistently high OOP, particularly for medicines, the principal driver of financial burden among older adults. These findings highlight the fragility of recent health financing reforms and the need to ensure sustained, employment-independent financial protection for Mexico's ageing population.

Indexed as

Financing, PersonalHealth ExpendituresHealth PolicyInsurance CoverageMedically UninsuredAgedFemaleHumansInsurance, HealthLongitudinal StudiesMaleMexicoMiddle AgedNorth American Peoplefinancial protectionhealth system reformMexicoolder adultsout-of-pocket expenditures

Identifiers

PMID42098933
PMCPMC13481689

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.