The Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed a few hours ago the new value that the Training Payment Unit (UPC), a value that must be paid by all those involved in the General Social Health Security System taking into account the increase that was adopted after the inflation values registered during the month of November 2024. What is the aforementioned unit and how much is the increase?
The Capitation Payment Unit (UPC) It is the annual value that is recognized by each of the affiliates of the general social health security system (SGSSS) to cover the benefits of the Mandatory Health Plan (POS), in the contributory and subsidized regimes.
Article 182 of Law 100 of 1993 establishes that to organize and guarantee the provision of the services included in the health benefits plan, sEach EPS will be recognized with a per capita value called capitation payment unit –UPC–. This value will be determined according to the epidemiological profile, the risks covered and the costs of providing the service, based on technical studies from the Ministry of Health.
In information provided in a statement that It has been published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic and it has been known that the increase is 5.3%.
To argue, the previously mentioned portfolio indicated: “This decision responds to the need to protect the resources of the Social Security Health System in the face of the impossibility of making a calculation, due to low quality, little reliability and the inconsistencies detected in the information reported by the EPS,” he pointed out in a bulletin addressed to the press.
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In the same vein, Gustavo Petro used his official X account (previously known as Twitter) to address the increase. “It represents a real rise compared to the past,” he pointed out.
He also highlighted: “If the expected inflation is 3% (for 2025), the increase in the UPC for health has a 2.4% real increase over inflation and it can already subsume the labor cost that increases in the minimum wage of 9.4%.”
What are the reasons for the increase in UPC?
The details of the UPC increase
Alexis Munera
To argue this situation, Luis Alberto Martínez, Vice Minister of Social Protection, added that the information provided by the EPS taking into consideration the calculation of the increase in the UPC presented some inconsistencies.
For this reason, the official indicated that “there is an abrupt, unusual growth in the values and in the frequencies of use, which is not consistent with either historical data or the epidemiological profile of the country.”
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In this way, he highlighted that these companies in the health sector had already certified an expense, they have not yet financially closed the year 2023 because it is not even reviewed by a legal representative.
“Prices were paid for medicines that have price control and they were paid above the established price,” he noted.
For this reason, the The Advisory Commission on Insurance Benefits, Costs and Rates suggested that the authorities analyze an increase close to the values presented in the CPI.
