BOGOTA. The former president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, once again criticizes the reform of the country’s health system, proposed by the government of President Gustavo Petro. He notes that the reform “ends insurance” and that patients will depend on the policy to receive specialized medical care.
“Without insurance and dependence on politics for complex health care,” writes Uribe. “Today the EPS – Health Providing Entities – insurer responds to the patient for everything. There are delays in dealing with more complex cases as there are in Canada and England. In our country there is a lack of specialists, an issue that must be corrected” warns the former president In his account the social network X, formerly Twitter.
Uribe also rejects that the reform eliminates the free choice of the hospital network by patients. “The patient must go to the nearby Care Center, where he will be affiliated (registered) so that he can be referred to more complex care,” he says. “They would send it to the hospital in the network that has been selected by the policy, government, mayor’s office, etc. Today the hospital network is chosen by the EPS, which has to respond for the levels of complexity. Now we would depend on the policy.”
Uribe’s criticisms join those of other sectors of Colombian society that oppose the reform. Medical unions, private health companies and patient associations have expressed concern about the possible negative effects of the reform.
Petro’s government defends the reform
The Petro government, for its part, defends the reform, arguing that it is necessary to improve the quality of medical care in Colombia and to reduce inequalities in access to health.
The government seeks to eliminate affiliations with these companies, which would no longer be in charge of managing payments for services to clinics and hospitals, and in their place would be done by the state entity Resource Administrator of the General Health Social Security System (ADRES).
It is important to note that Colombia’s health system is mixed, in which public and private entities participate. The insurance entities, known as Health Provider Entities (EPS), are responsible for affiliating Colombians to the system and guaranteeing their access to health services.
The reform proposed by the Petro government seeks to eliminate the EPS and create a single health system, administered by the State. The government argues that this improves the efficiency of the system and reduces costs.
However, critics of the reform point out that it can lead to a decrease in the quality of medical care and an increase in bureaucracy.
The reform of Colombia’s health system is still pending in the Congress of the Republic. It is expected that the debate on this topic will be intense and that its discussion will be prolonged before being approved, possibly undergoing modifications and some articles being eliminated.
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Source: Account X of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Voice of America
