Health reform would worsen the system's financial situation

The uncertainty that persists in the health sector due to the reform that aims to modify the system, and which is scheduled to begin debate in the Senate, was discussed during the forum "Health Crisis: Will Health Reform Save Us? ", organized by EL TIEMPO and the Senate.

(See: Barriers to access to health continue to increase due to lack of resources )

During the event, the president of the legislature, Efraín Cepeda, emphasized that the Colombian health system is facing a "deep" crisis as a result of the government's ideological, " erratic, and irresponsible " decisions.

Now, one of the highlights of the event concerns the financing of the system. Cepeda explained that in a context of fiscal crisis, such as the one the country is facing, moving forward with a reform that lacks solid financial backing " is not only risky, but irresponsible ."

(Read: Controversy over a rule that puts a central part of the health reform in motion )

" The Petro government has systematically defaulted on payments to the health system, stifling clinics, hospitals, and drug suppliers (...) The intervened EPSs, such as Nueva EPS and Sanitas, are the ones with the greatest debt burden, with $6.3 billion, of which $3.4 billion are in arrears ," he said.

Along the same lines, Jorge Coronel, advisor to the Ministry of Finance, emphasized that the health system has lacked efficient use of resources, which is why the reform aims to reflect the financing scheme and ensure that resources are guaranteed for it .

(See more: 'We want to continue evolving the healthcare model in Colombia': GSK )

For this reason, Coronel emphasized that the development of the fiscal concept, which currently does not exist and must be issued by the Ministry, will have a priority: ensuring the resources for the system's operation, based on what is proposed in the reform.

(See also: Health system deficit: UPC accident rate reached 109.5% in 2024 )

Although he referred to the serious and "severe" billing problems within the sector, he added that the system doesn't work well in managing resources, and therefore, one way to correct it is to avoid the tolls paid through the EPSs. "The payer would be Adres, and it does so directly through the contracted entity," he said.

Health consultant Ramón Abel Castaño insisted that the government's initiative could worsen the system's financial situation and that issues such as the elimination of the purchasing function and the lack of spending control by the administrators could be one of the reasons for the decline.

(Read: Claims and lawsuits: access to health care in Colombia faces a silent crisis )

" Today's EPS has income from the UPC, and given this restriction, it has to make the money last. A lot of money is lost at the end of the year, some of it likely due to corruption. In general, that money isn't enough, but the EPS remains committed ," he noted.

He added that under the scheme proposed in the article, this function disappears, so the manager would end up "doing the bidding" of Adres, a fact that would result in the system's financial situation "being worse than it is now."

(Read more: More than 7 million invoices processed by FEV-RIPS, according to the Ministry of Health )

It's worth noting the role of rare and high-cost diseases in the healthcare reform debate. For Diego Fernando Gil, executive director of the Colombian Federation of Rare Diseases, the bill does not provide financial guarantees for these types of diseases.

" The health system had been functioning with flaws, but it was working. When compared to other systems around the world, Colombia has managed to achieve efficient performance in terms of coverage and access, and that's something that cannot be ignored, " he noted.