Chile ? Jose Soto got one more doctor than he counted on when he went to a hospital for an ear problem. Physician-turned-president Michelle Bachelet stopped by to make sure nobody was charging him for the service.

Bachelet’s visit to the San Juan de Dios Hospital was to monitor the implementation of her first measure as president: free health care for all patients older than 60 through the national health insurance system.

Chile’s president declared the policy at her first news conference, two days after her inauguration Saturday.

An estimated 80 percent of Chileans depend on the state health insurance system.

This plan adds 135,000 people to those already eligible for free care.