Social Security

According to 2021 data, 68% of Hondurans aged 65 and older live in poverty, and 69% receive no pension or work income, a crisis driven by informal employment and gaps in pension-system coverage that leaves families to provide support.

Congressman Rashid Mejía introduced a proposal to adjust disability, old-age, and survivor pensions under the Social Security Institute (IHSS) in line with inflation, addressing what he called unfair contribution gaps across income levels.

Pharmacies at the Social Security's Regional Hospital of the North will close temporarily from September 21 to 25 for inventory work, affecting the outpatient, oncology, hospital, and emergency pharmacies.

Ricardo Rodas, president of the IHSS doctors' association, says informational assemblies will continue until the Social Security Institute pays outstanding wages owed to temporary staff and approximately 400 physicians.

Social Security patients are spending L3,000–L6,000 monthly (about $120–$240) out of pocket for medications and supplies due to treatment delays, with chronic and cancer patients most severely affected by administrative backlogs and supply shortages.

Patients covered by Honduras's social security system are urging authorities to expand coverage and improve service quality, citing the near-impossibility of obtaining specialist appointments.

The president of the IHSS doctors' association says the social-security institute faces a severe crisis driven by government debt exceeding 30 billion lempiras (about $1.2 billion) and another 6 billion lempiras from other sectors, compounded by overcrowding, physician shortages, and no new buildings in over 30 years.