SANTIAGO — José Antonio Kast assumed office as President of Chile, characterizing his administration as an emergency government. President Kast has reduced government spending, including allocations for health and social programs, stating that the government intends to allocate financial resources more efficiently.

President Kast proposed the Plan Zero initiative to eliminate healthcare waiting lists in Chile. This initiative suggests routing unresolved public-sector healthcare cases to private providers through transparent agreements. The Plan Zero initiative includes a proposed one-time investment of approximately $770 million.

More than 2.5 million Chileans are currently registered on healthcare waiting lists, and the average waiting period for major surgery in Chile exceeds three hundred days. Approximately three out of four older adults in Chile live with at least one chronic condition. Nearly 500,000 adults in Chile require some level of care due to dependency.

President Kast also proposed the Golden Generation Plan to address demographic shifts in Chile. Individuals over the age of sixty constitute approximately 20 percent of the population in Chile, and demographic projections indicate this segment will reach 31.6 percent by 2050. Women in Chile have a longer life expectancy than men, and approximately 60 percent of older women participate in the informal job market.

The Golden Generation Plan proposes professionalizing caregivers and expanding day care and residential facilities. Chile maintains approximately 23,000 nursing care beds. The plan also proposes a senior employment statute to promote flexible work arrangements and the gradual elimination of property taxes for seniors on their primary residence.

The unpaid work performed by older adults in Chile was estimated to have an economic value of $11.36 billion in 2021. This represented 4.5 percent of Chile's gross domestic product in 2021. Dependency rates in Chile increase from 20 percent at age sixty to 62 percent at age ninety.

Chile previously implemented the National Policy on Positive Aging and established social programs administered by the National Service for Older Adults. A recently approved law mandates the Chilean government to develop a comprehensive public policy on aging within six months. Contracts for aging-related services in Chile have historically been executed at the national level, though regional representatives in Chile are elected to their positions and manage regional budgets.

No independent assessment of José Antonio Kast’s claims was available.