Costa Rica’s Health Care Reform: Impact and Success of the EBAIS Model

Abstract

In 1995, Costa Rica reformed its Primary Health Care System and implemented the EBAIS model to provide health care for all its citizens. This model created multidisciplinary teams to provide holistic and integrated preventative, curative and public health services to established health areas. With a focus on primary health care, accountability, monitoring and community involvement, the Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral de Salud (EBAIS) model received strong political support and was backed by both private and public funding. In 2017, over 93% of the population had access to primary health care and Costa Rica ranked 62 out of 195 for the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) index. Due to an increasing prevalence and burden of non-communicable diseases worldwide, re-commitment of this plan is imperative. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.8 aims to achieve universal healthcare (UHC) coverage through the provision of essential health care services for all (1). As countries look towards reforming their health care systems, Costa Rica serves as an example of an innovative and successful model for delivery of primary health care. In this case study, we will examine the impact of Costa Rica’s reformed Primary Health Care System on access to health care from 1995 onwards.