Were health sector stakeholders taken into account in the new reform?

This Friday, September 13, the National Government, headed by the Ministry of Health, presented to the Congress of the Republic his new health reform project. The initiative has several modifications compared to the text that was rejected in March of this year; however, it maintains some of its key points.

(Read more: National Government resubmits health reform bill)

Some of these aspects include giving total management of the resources allocated to the system to the Health Resources Administrator (Adres) to the country’s hospital and clinic networks, in order to eliminate intermediaries.

The reform also retains its proposal to transform the EPS into Health and Life Managers, that is, into entities in charge of Coordinate health care and articulate the network of services.

According to the Minister of Health, Guillermo Jaramillo, the article is the result of “a broad consensus process. We have taken into account and addressed the comments of all parties involved in order to achieve comprehensive and effective reform.” However, some voices have pointed out otherwise.

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(Read more: Former ministers and vice ministers of health reaffirm concerns about the reform)

According to the representative to the House, Andrés Forero, the filing of the project before the Legislature was done “without the accompaniment of patients, doctors and academics.” The congressman highlighted that Minister Jaramillo He did not take advantage of the time to listen to the sector and construct the new text.

“The minister wasted the time he had and did not reach agreements or consensus with the actors in the system and stubbornly insists on the same text with some modifications that have already been sunk in the Seventh Commission of the Senate”he indicated.

Forero also pointed out that the Democratic Center will do everything possible “so that this reform that seeks to nationalize the health of Colombians does not go ahead” and added that “At the same time, we will demand that the national government guarantee today the right to health that has been affected by the minister’s incompetence.”

(See: Dates to keep in mind for the approval of the National Budget in Congress)

PORTFOLIO