Neoliberal Justice and the Transformation of the Moral: The Privatization of the Right to Health Care in Colombia

Abstract

Neoliberal reforms have transformed the legislative scope and everyday dynamics around the right to health care from welfare state social contracts to insurance markets administered by transnational financial capital. This article presents experiences of health care-seeking treatment, judicial rulings about the right to health care, and market-based health care legislation in Colombia. When insurance companies deny services, citizens petition the judiciary to issue a writ affirming their right to health care. The judiciary evaluates the finances of all relevant parties to rule whether a service should be provided and who should be responsible for the costs. A 2011 law claimed that citizens who demand, physicians who prescribe, and judges who grant uncovered services use the system's limited economic resources and undermine the state's capacity to expand coverage to the poor. This article shows how the consolidation of neoliberal ideology in health care requires the transformation of moral values around life.

Keywords: health as a human right; health care reform; justice; morality; neoliberalism.