A Bolivian woman who did not want to pay the cost of her birth in a hospital in Salta was prosecuted. Salta is currently the only Argentine province that charges medical services to foreigners who visit its public hospitals.
According to the latest report from the Foreign Ministry, the majority of patients arrive from Bolivia and Paraguay. In the last two months, 3,800 foreign patients attended consultations from Argentina, mostly from Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Formosa, according to the report. "There are a large number of patients who come from other countries who come to Argentina to get medical care," says the Ministry of Health provincial Federico Mangione, who is responsible for the province's health care system. "We see the rest,” Mangione says when announcing the measure. “First the Salteños. We see the others," he adds, referring to non-Argentine citizens who return to their home countries for medical care. The new measure is in response to a dispute between the provinces and the Government of Javier Milei over the cuts in public funds.