The health reform passed its first debate yesterday in the seventh Commission of the House of Representatives; however, medical unions still show concern about what they describe as a setback for the country, referring to some controversial articles in the document.
Of the 28 items approved by the House of Representatives, item 4 was one of the items that generated the most disagreements, since it refers to the definition of the health model.
Regarding this point, the EPS union (Acemi) declared: “With the approval of article 4, which refers to the definition of the health model, the concept of social security is destroyed and replaced by a collection of resources. Basic insurance concepts such as the benefits plan are eliminated. Also the figure of insurer (EPS) and basic financial notions such as technical reserves, investments and technical equity”.
According to Acemi, with the approval of the health reform and the end of the EPS, nearly 100,000 formal jobs are destroyed, something that the Minister of Health, Guillermo Jaramillo, denied.
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“I think we are going to increase employment. The tax reform will generate more resources. Of those current ones, the health budget will be doubled, especially the subsidized regime, ”said the head of the portfolio in the dialogue with Blu Radio.
The EPS union also pointed out that in two years all Colombians should be assigned to one of the two thousand Primary Health Care Centers (CAPS) that by then would have to be in operation, but “today there are no resources or capacities nor the single public information system that would make the model viable,” he added.
Faced with this, Jaramillo indicated on Caracol Radio that the EPS will not disappear and that, on the contrary, they will be given the freedom to also form their own CAPS that may be public or private, this in order to find attention to the most unprotected in the country.
“The EPS are going to undergo a transformation, they are going to become managers and we are going to walk hand in hand with them. The EPS will continue to have their affiliates and we are going to shape this system that is strengthened in prevention, health promotion and primary care”, assured the Minister of Health. Minister Jaramillo denied that the Government will grant resources to the territorial authorities for the construction or completion of hospital infrastructure works.
Despite the statements made by the Minister of Health, all the concerns raised by the Colombian Association of Comprehensive Medicine Companies have not yet been resolved, which pointed out that in a new article approved at the last moment, the Seventh Commission created a new premium for This risk is incompatible with a supply financing model such as the one proposed.
According to Acemi “a budget model is being confused, in which there is an authorization of spending, with an insurance model, in which resources are not transferred to a third party, but rather the health risk.” The union added that In addition, this premium is indeterminable, since there is no established coverage plan.
For his part, the director of the National Center for Medical Law, José Norman Salazar, indicated: “It remains to be defined who will assume the management of health risk, this in the face of high-cost, catastrophic, and chronic diseases. That will be vital for citizens. It also remains to adjust the function of the Address, if it is going to be only treasury or additional management”.
While Ludivia Grisales, representative of the National Union of Health and Social Security, said that in her union the system of auditing hospitals proposed by the reform does not generate confidence. “We do not know to what extent they are going to be impartial and objective when reviewing the accounts, they will end up sacrificing the public network. This is because many EPS have their own IPS or hospitals. That way they would end up being judge and party, ”she asserted.
The reform still has three debates pending in the House of Representatives and two more in the Senate to become law, in these the health unions hope that the points will be debated in depth and their opinion will be taken into account. with Infobae