The 5.36% increase in the Capitation Payment Unit (UPC) decreed for 2025 has unleashed a wave of criticism and warnings from various sectors. There have even been requests for A possible adjustment in the premium that Colombians pay to access the services of the health system is reviewed.
(See: President Petro refers to the irregularities in data presented by the EPS)
This debate once again puts the structural tensions of the country’s health model and the sustainability of its financing under the magnifying glass. Although the Government has presented the arguments behind the adjustment, Diego Guevara, Minister of Finance, assured in an interview with Caracol Radio that, Despite being open to dialogue, materializing a greater increase in the UPC will not be an easy task.
“It is irresponsible to create an illusion when the resources do not exist“said Guevara, underlining the fiscal limitations that Colombia faces. “One cannot generate a debate like this in a context of fiscal tightness, because the money simply does not arrive,” he indicated.
(Read more: Right to petition seeks to revoke resolution on UPC by 2025)
The head of the economic portfolio insisted that, although the health sector will always demand more resources, the country’s budgetary reality requires prioritizing and strategically allocating available resources. “This is going to require a national dialogue,” he emphasized, opening the door to a broader discussion about the sustainability of the health system.
For his part, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, Minister of Health, addressed the reform of the health system that will be discussed in Congress next month, and whose goal, as he explained in an interview with Caracol Noticias, is to guarantee the regularization and formalization of all workers in the sector.
(See also: Bad calculation by the UPC condemns health to start 2025 with a serious deficit)
Filing of the health reform
Ministry of Health and Social Protection
Jaramillo called on control entities to investigate and make transparent the financial operations of the Health Promotion Companies (EPS), lifting their corporate veils.
(See: The inconsistencies detected by the Minsalud in the data reported by the EPS)
“It cannot be that, due to vertical integration, the EPS report profits while claiming that they do not have enough money to care for patients. Their companies grow, but the system suffers. Therefore, the technical panel that will be formed to address this reform must be made up of national and international experts.“said the Minister.
The head of the Health portfolio also emphasized that The reform does not seek the disappearance of the EPS, but rather a structural change in their responsibilities.
(Read more: Afidro warns that the UPC should have increased to 16.4%)
“I have always believed that the system is perverse. We are not interested in the EPS disappearing, but we have reached an agreement in which, according to 12 points established in the reform, the EPS will no longer respond financially, but in terms of guaranteeing health results.“he explained.
