Since the start of government of President Gustavo Petro, Concerns and uncertainties regarding the future of the Colombian health system have been increasing. After the appointment of Carolina Cork as head of the portfolio, on various occasions it has been stated that in the healthcare reform, that will be debated in the extraordinary sessions of Congress, next February 6, it is possible to Elimination of Health Provider Entities (EPS), financing of the system, prioritization of the budget addition, among other.
Some fibers have been touched within the sector, especially on the issue of EPS, taking into account that, as stated by Paula Acosta, executive president of Acemi, The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has not disclosed the articles of the reform, in any space with the actors of the sector.
(See: Health reform will go through extraordinary sessions of Congress).
However, in the Extraordinary Council of Ministers in Villa de Leyva, where issues of the different reforms were discussed, Minister Corcho explained that for the sector, it seeks to guarantee the fundamental right to health with greater inclusion, primary care and the dignity of those who are dedicated to caring for life.
After the discussions that have been presented, Portafolio consulted different experts to give reasons for the situations presented.
Gustavo Quintero, dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Universidad del Rosario, He affirmed that the existing risk is that an unfinished reform for the health sector passes, which has been consulted by “a very exclusive group of people”, without listening to the actors.
(See: Health reform: contributory and subsidized regimes would be eliminated).
Likewise, the academic indicated that “Eliminating EPS would be possible if an alternate mechanism existed. Suddenly, it is not the elimination that is necessary, but its transformation. But it seems that this is the point of honor of the reform”.
Similarly, Mario Fernando Cruz, director of Social Security, Life and People at the Federation of Colombian Insurers (Fasecolda) He stated that the concerns can be referred to the operation of the EPS and the financing.
For the manager, the EPS fulfill different roles in the system, but they also have “an ungrateful role and it is to make the money work, that is called financial management. It would be necessary to ask who is going to assume these functions and if they are able to do so”.
However, he expressed that programs can be created that complement the insurance model, but they are “very far” from meeting the needs of an urban and aging population that require protection schemes. financial and specialized health services.
“Pretending that a health program replace a complex system like ours would have severe effects on care and health”, stated Mario Cruz.
(See: They discover health components in coffee with milk: the benefits).
On the other hand, Paúl Rodríguez, professor of economics and health expert at the Universidad del Rosario, told Portafolio that the EPS play a key role within the sector, being the ones that order the use of resources. “When removing them, it is not yet known who is going to carry out this audit. For now, the representatives of the Ministry have said that they will be the same doctors, but this would be like putting the mouse to take care of the cheese”, indicated the teacher.
Additionally, Gustavo Morales Cobo, former president of Acemi, In the face of the health reform, he maintained that the natural scenario to socialize any bill is the Congress of the Republic. “The risk is not that it has not been socialized, the risk is that so many ads have been made without text and doing so generates a lot of uncertainty, which slows down investment, new contracts and that is what does harm“, said.
Regarding the EPS, Morales indicated that the Colombians who have the best guaranteed right to health are those who are affiliated with private for-profit companies. “Depriving Colombians of the possibility of being well attended by a private company that complies would be a serious mistake. On the other hand, the Colombians who have the worst guaranteed right to health are those who depend on purely public systems.“, said.
health reform
If he had socialized?
President Gustavo Petro published on his Twitter account the cover of the “proposal for regulation and development of statutory law 1751 of 2015 for the guarantee of the fundamental right to health in Colombia”, text, from which he affirmed that it would have become his government program and which had been published more than a year and a half ago and it would also have been discussed with social movements and health forces.
(See: How good urban planning can impact health).
“It is the basis of our healthcare reform bill.”, stated the president.
Additionally, the president indicated that the reform would have three fundamental objectives, such as: They are to improve the job stability of workers in the health sector, as well as ensuring that public resources are managed by public entities.
Also, President Petro supported the importance of primary care, indicating that “One of the best successes of your Government has been to reduce the maternal mortality rate in the country in four months, with a crash plan, which was done with public health”.
DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.
Journalist Portfolio
