Background: During the 1990s, health systems within several Latin American countries changed to expand service coverage and reach more people. These changes are considered the antecedent of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Seven years after the United Nations’ call for UHC, healthcare services in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico are generally accessible and affordable. However, these countries increasingly struggle to meet their populations’ growing health needs while also addressing rising health care costs. This research aims to describe measures taken by these four countries to commit by UHC, addressing their barriers and challenges. Methods: This study examined literature review data, supplemented with survey data collected from regional stakeholders. Data were analyzed within an ad-hoc matrix.Results: These four countries increased healthcare services coverage by strengthening their primary healthcare systems. They also expanded coverage for non-communicable diseases, provided community outreach, and increased the number of skilled healthcare workers. New pharmaceutical support programs provided access to treatments for chronic conditions at zero cost, while high-costs drugs and cancer treatments were partially guaranteed. However, these measures did not achieve full financial protection to all, leaving citizens exposed to possible catastrophic expenditures, despite increased service coverage. UHC is funded primarily through taxes and polling resources, and these four countries still struggle to find mechanisms that could increase pooling mechanisms capable of increasing service coverage, while reducing financial inequities among people. Conclusions: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have made progress towards UHC. Nevertheless, additional mechanisms to sustain financial protection are urgently required. The decentralization of the primary healthcare system, the development of public-private partnerships, and the implementation of progressive financing mechanisms like conditional cash transfers are potential manners to improve service delivery and financial protection contributing to effective UHC.
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