Recent statements from the Minister of Health, Carolina Corchoand a supposed draft of the bill, in which the elimination of the EPSaroused suspicions about whether or not there will be a health reform this year.
(‘The budget for health has not been reduced’: Ministry of Health).
“Health is financed with contributions from workers and contributions from the Colombian tax budget. These resources must go directly to the hospitals, we cannot continue to intermediate some resources”Corcho said during a public hearing of the Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives in Cali.
However, the National Government clarified that, until now, the articles of the bill have not been defined and the agreement on it is just beginning.
(Tax reform, the key issue of the meeting between Petro and Uribe).
The director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (DAPRE), Mauricio Lizcano, assured that the most important thing now is to debate the tax reform, and that of health would be left for next year.
(The pros and cons of including more taxes on cigarettes).
“The government’s priority in legislative matters is tax reform. Health reform is another year’s issue, what we have said is to open a consensus on the system, being careful to always build something better. No decisions made or articulatedLizcano said.
Likewise, in the recent EL TIEMPO forum in which she participated, the Minister of Health pointed out that the health reform “is scheduled for next semestersince the current priorities for the Government are tax reform, the Nation’s budget and political reform.
And he added: “What the reform is going to be, the country is going to know because it is a public debate. A reform cannot be approved behind closed doors.”
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