Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Sickness Insurance (Industry) Convention, 1927 (No. 24) - Chile (Ratification: 1931)

For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the fact that the national legislation is not in compliance with a basic principle established by Convention No. 24 (Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention) and, in general, by international social security law, in accordance with which insured persons and their employers shall share in providing the financial resources of the sickness insurance scheme. In Chile, all social contributions, with the exception of those for the employment injury compensation scheme, have been payable by workers since the adoption of Legislative Decree No. 3501 of 1980.

In its report, the Government confines itself to reporting the adoption in 2005 of DFL No. 1, which is intended to codify the legal regime governing health protection by compiling the various applicable legislative texts. The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not express any intention of complying with its obligation to give effect, in national laws and regulations, to the requirements of Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention, under the terms of which the financial resources of the sickness insurance system shall be constituted through joint contributions of employers and insured persons. The Committee wishes to emphasize that failure to comply with the principle of the collective financing of social security in the health insurance branch, as in the pensions branch, makes the system socially unjust for workers and therefore incompatible with the objectives of international labour standards in relation to social security. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to assess the consequences of this situation with the social partners and it requests it to keep the Committee duly informed of any measure adopted in this respect.