The novel around the health reform released another chapter. Despite the talks in recent weeks between the government of Gustavo Petro and the ‘U’ and Conservative parties (who are part of the government coalition), the bill could lose the minimum support required for its processing before the Congress of the Republic.
(See: Health reform enters “intensive care” again).
The debate that was scheduled for today, Thursday, was rescheduled for next week because the Conservative Party and ‘la U’ presented 133 propositions, and it was decided together with the Government that these requests should be studied before entering into a debate.
But the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, did not give up on several of the requests presented by the congressmen, and they, in response, warned of the possibility of withdrawing their support for the project.
The president of the Conservative Party, Senator Efraín Cepeda, confirmed that the Ministry of Health sent its comments on the 133 proposals, which were studied by the party’s technical teams.
(See: Health reform: positions for and against EPS unions).
“The presidents of the three parties met, Conservative, Liberal and ‘la U’, and the balance is as follows: of the total number of proposals, they only accept 27%, they reject 73%; and of the priority ones, which are the mixed model, free choice… They accept only 19 out of 95, less than 20%Cepeda said.
The leader of the conservatives was emphatic that “If these conditions persist on Tuesday, the Conservative Party will vote negative on the draft presentation “.
(See: Why calculating the fiscal cost of reforms is a ‘tough nut to crack’).
Among the breaking points between the portfolio that Corcho directs and the parties is the clarity of a mixed health system, one of the requests that the parties have made. Even the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, has said that this is a point that will be agreed upon in the first debate.
There are also functions health managers, who in the articles of the paper are still unclear. The parties consider that individual health risk management should be assumed by the managers (the name by which the EPS will be renamed if the reform is approved).
Financial risk is another point of disagreement. The congressmen have defended that this be assumed by the institutions of the health system. And according to the Minister of the Interior, the financial risk will be assumed by the State and the managers, in the commitment to a mixed health system.
(See: ‘The EPS would be doomed to disappear in less than two years’).
This is another of the key points that must also be defined in the first debate.
Resources are another bone of contention. Both ‘la U’ and the conservatives have criticized the “bureaucratization” that the creation of regional funds would bring to the system, and for this reason one of the proposals seeks to eliminate them.
The project has seen several setbacks in its legislative process, such as the loss of support from the Liberals, who will file its health system reform project in the second semester.
With all this, the debate was expected to start this week, but on Wednesday afternoon the president of the Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives, Agmeth Escaf, announced that the first debate on the bill would take place next week.
(See: Who will assume financial and health risk management?).
“The VII Commission decided not to open the debate on the health reform this Thursday with the aim of giving guarantees to the parties and the speakers so that the new articles that have been presented can be worked on calmly, in order to smooth out the spaces and give guarantees to all sectors of participationAgmeth Escaf commented.
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