Health reform: reactions to the project filed by the Government

This Monday the health reform bill contemplated by the Government of President Gustavo Petro was filed.

(‘Petro heard us a lot, but this was not translated into the text’: Gaviria).

The initiative, which will begin its process and debate in the Congress of the republic In the coming days, it has caused a lot of controversy, and has even had opponents within the government itself, such as the current Minister of Education and former Minister of Health, Alejandro Gaviria.

Like him, other critical voices have reacted to the project, such as the former Minister of Health, but from the Duque government, Fernando Ruiz.

According to Ruiz, who had to face the covid-19 pandemic during his administration, the new government’s initiative will divide “the health of the rich and the health of the poor” and will cause greater inequality.

(The alphabet of the Petro government’s health reform project).

“The people who are behind the health reform have always been pressing to return to the guaranteed health system. In this reform, the benefit plan completely disappears. (…) It seems to me an idealistic approach. Putting the health system in crisis now to move on to one that is not very operational and not very viable”, said.

Also qualified as “gloomy” the diagnosis made by the Ministry of Health on the system, since he believes that it is not correctly based on studies.

(‘There will be no clients, there will be people’: Petro on health reform).

He also questioned the power that Adres will have (Administrator of the Resources of the General System of Social Security in Health) and that under this model the EPS will have difficulties to operate, which would lead them to disappear.

For his part, Senator David Luna stated that through this reform “They force all the members of a family to belong to the same EPS to curtail our freedom to choose, but above all, so that there is no possibility of comparing. We will stay with the service that touches us, even if it is the worst”.

“Minister Carolina Corcho does not hate the EPS, she hates the control that most of them exercise. Clearly, what she wants is for the resources to be transferred to local politicians so that they are left owing the favor of the transfer (and at election time )”, Luna wrote on her social networks.

The former mayor of Bogotá Enrique Peñalosa, another harsh critic of the government, stated that “With the health reform, the IPS will be charging everything to mayoralties and governorships that will not have any capacity to control these expenses. Corruption to give preference in payments to some IPS will be monumental.”

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