Free help with healthcare in Argentina

Coverage and public programs

• Programa Sumar+ (public health coverage for people without insurance, Ministerio de Salud)A Ministerio de Salud program for people with no obra social (work-based health insurer) or prepaga (private health plan), supporting a set of priority services in provincial public hospitals and health centers. Its free line, 0800 222 7100, gives information and takes complaints.www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/sumarmas
• Obras sociales (work-based health insurers, Ministerio de Justicia)Derecho Fácil’s plain guide: who must be enrolled (employees, retirees and pensioners, and their families), that an obra social can’t ask for a medical exam or make you wait for the services it must cover, and that cover continues for 3 months after a job of more than 3 months ends.www.argentina.gob.ar/justicia/derechofacil/leysimple/obras-sociales
• Mi Agente del Seguro (find your health insurer, SSS)Look up which obra social or prepaga the Superintendencia de Servicios de Salud (SSS, the health insurance regulator) has you registered with, using a CUIL or CUIT (tax ID numbers) or a DNI (national ID number).www.argentina.gob.ar/sssalud/usuarios/mi-obra-social
• Realizar opción de cambio (changing your health insurer, SSS)Workers and monotributistas (people on the simplified tax regime) can change obra social or prepaga free and online, once a year; retirees and pensioners do it through ANSES. Some people, such as those whose job has ended, can’t use it.www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/realizar-opcion-de-cambio-libre-eleccion-de-agentes-del-seguro
• Afiliate a PAMI (joining PAMI, the health insurer for retirees)PAMI, the Instituto Nacional de Servicios Sociales para Jubilados y Pensionados, serves retirees and pensioners, their dependent family members, people with disabilities and war veterans. Members choose a médico de cabecera (family doctor), who is the way in to its services.www.pami.org.ar/afiliateapami

Finding care near you

• Oficinas provinciales del Programa Sumar+ (Sumar+ offices by province, Ministerio de Salud)The phone number, address and email of the Sumar+ office in each province and in the City of Buenos Aires, to contact the program where you live.www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/sumarmas/oficinas-provinciales
• Buscador Nacional de Profesionales de la Salud (national search of health professionals, Ministerio de Salud)Check a health professional’s registration (matrícula) and license to practice by DNI, registration number or name, from the records that provinces and professional colleges report to the national register (REFEPS).www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/buscador-nacional-de-profesionales-de-la-salud

Getting help online and by phone

• 0800 Salud Responde (health information lines, Ministerio de Salud)Calls are free from anywhere in the country. The main line, 0800-222-1002, covers topics such as vaccines, high-cost medicines and respiratory illness, and the page lists the separate free lines for cancer screening, quitting smoking, sexual and reproductive health, HIV and Remediar.www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/0800saludresponde
• PAMI Escucha y Responde (PAMI’s help line)PAMI’s phone service for questions, suggestions and complaints about its services: call 138, free, from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. PAMI says no one can charge you for its services or paperwork.www.pami.org.ar/contacto
• ANMAT Responde (medicines regulator help line)The Administración Nacional de Medicamentos, Alimentos y Tecnología Médica (ANMAT) answers questions about medicines, medical devices, food and cosmetics, and takes complaints. Free line 0800-333-1234, weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., weekends and holidays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.www.argentina.gob.ar/anmat/anmatresponde

Your rights and complaints

• Denuncia por problemáticas de cobertura prestacional (coverage complaints, SSS)A free complaint to the Superintendencia de Servicios de Salud when your obra social or prepaga does not provide the care or coverage it should. File it online through Trámites a Distancia, in person by appointment (0800-222-72583) or by post; the page lists the documents needed.www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/denuncia-por-problematicas-de-cobertura-prestacional
• Programa Médico Obligatorio (minimum required coverage, Ministerio de Justicia)Derecho Fácil’s guide to the PMO, the basic set of services every obra social and prepaga must cover in any plan, from the day you join, with examples such as care in pregnancy, hospital stays and mental health.www.argentina.gob.ar/justicia/derechofacil/leysimple/programa-medico-obligatorio
• Medicina prepaga (private health plans, Ministerio de Justicia)What prepagas must do under Ley 26.682, such as cover the PMO from the day you sign and tell you clearly when fees change. They can’t refuse you for an illness you already have, though the SSS, which oversees them, can authorize a higher fee.www.argentina.gob.ar/justicia/derechofacil/leysimple/medicina-prepaga
• Reclamos (complaints, PAMI)Search PAMI’s list of complaints by keyword, for example about a consultation with, or the assignment or change of, your médico de cabecera (family doctor).www.pami.org.ar/reclamos

Your health records and privacy

• Derechos del paciente (patient rights, Ministerio de Justicia)Derecho Fácil’s guide to Ley 26.529: your right to clear information about your health, to privacy and to refuse treatment. Your historia clínica (medical record) is yours: you can ask for it at any time, and it must be given within 48 hours, sooner in an emergency.www.argentina.gob.ar/justicia/derechofacil/leysimple/derechos-del-paciente
• Conocé tus derechos respecto a tus datos personales (your data rights, AAIP)The Agencia de Acceso a la Información Pública (AAIP, the data protection authority) explains how to ask a company, public body or professional for the personal data it holds on you, free every six months, and how to have it corrected or deleted, with model request letters.www.argentina.gob.ar/aaip/datospersonales/derechos
• Denunciar incumplimientos de la Ley de Protección de Datos Personales (data protection complaints, AAIP)A free complaint to the AAIP if a company or public body won’t tell you what data it holds on you, or won’t correct, update or delete wrong information. You file it online through Trámites a Distancia with a clave fiscal.www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/denunciar-incumplimientos-de-la-ley-de-proteccion-de-datos-personales

Medicines and their costs

• Remediar (free essential medicines, Ministerio de Salud)A Ministerio de Salud program that sends kits of essential medicines to public primary care centers (CAPS). After a consultation and a prescription, you collect the medicine free at the center, if it is in the Remediar kit and available.www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/remediar/que-es-remediar
• Medicamentos (medicines coverage, SSS)Obras sociales and prepagas must cover 70% of the reference price of listed medicines for common chronic conditions, and 100% of some, such as insulin and cancer medicines. Doctors must prescribe by generic name, so you can choose the brand.www.argentina.gob.ar/sssalud/usuarios/cobertura-pretacional/medicamentos
• Programa de Medicamentos PAMI (PAMI medicines)PAMI covers medicines at discounts of up to 100%, with full cover for treatments such as diabetes and cancer, and a social subsidy with 100% cover for members who can’t pay for their medicines, applied for online or at a PAMI agency.www.pami.org.ar/medicamentos
• Vigilancia Sanitaria (report a problem with a product, ANMAT)Report to ANMAT a side effect from a medicine, a problem with a medical device, or a medicine or medical product you suspect is not genuine.www.argentina.gob.ar/anmat/vigilancia-sanitaria

Learn it in a session

Free one-hour Reach sessions, each with a take-home sheet for Argentina.

• How coverage works here: Public programs, insurance and what is free at the point of care, explained for the country you are in.
• Finding low-cost care: Community health centers, free clinics, sliding-scale fees, and what to ask before an appointment.
• Reading a medical bill: What the lines and codes mean, asking for an itemized bill, questioning errors and asking about payment help.
• Your health records: Asking to see and copy your records, what the law where you live allows, and keeping them safe.
• Portals and video appointments: Setting up a patient portal, joining a video appointment, and avoiding health-related scams.
• Medicines and costs: Generic medicines, asking what a prescription will cost, and assistance programs where they exist.