Argentina's Plan Nacer: Provincial Maternal and Child Health Insurance - A Results-Based Financing Project at Work

This December 2009 issue of En Breve describes a results-based financing project in Argentina – Plan Nacer.

Plan Nacer is a provincial social insurance program providing a free basic package of cost-effective services to women and children through participating healthcare providers. The project uses an incentive mechanism between the National Ministry of Health and the Provincial Governments, and between the Provincial Governments and healthcare providers, to enhance quality and accountability in health service provision.

The project demonstrates that reducing inequities in access to healthcare and improving the effectiveness of social financing are possible through programs with outcome-based funding and a focus on specific target populations – in this case, the most vulnerable: uninsured pregnant women and children under the age of six.

En Breve is a regular series of notes highlighting recent lessons emerging from the operations and analytical activities of the World Bank‘s Latin America and Caribbean Region.