At the end of a meeting last night at the Casa de Nariño between President Gustavo Petro, Efraín Cepeda (Conservative Party director) and Dilian Francisca Toro (La U Party director), the latter recounted the main conclusions of the meeting on the proposed adjustments to the health reform.
“It was a very conciliatory meeting, very good, because we were able to express what we believe we can build on what has been built, and that we can achieve what the president is wanting to do with the health reform, we can do it as long as we do it under consensus, but also benefiting the patients”, pointed out Toro.
He explained that the first thing that was accepted is a mixed health system. “The private sector is going to create a Health and Life Manager that will be different because they will not receive the resources, they will not have vertical integration or have a dominant position, that is very important.”
“There will also be a public system that is made up of all the public hospitals in the country, which are going to become, those of level 1, Primary Care Centers (CAP). That of course is going to have a transition, because that cannot be overnight,” added the former congresswoman.
“The managers will be paid 5% of administration, that is, in the part of articulation of health risks. It’s not going to be now, it’s going to take a while because the Adres has to be strengthened to be able to finally be a payer, an auditor and that will take a few years. That is something that we are going to study to make the best transition for the system,” Toro said.
“Another of the points that were discussed was the fee system, which we believe should have a floor and a ceiling without variability so that hospitals and clinics can improve quality. The better quality, the better payment, and thus it is encouraged so that there is better quality for patient care, ”he said.
Regarding the EPS, he said that those that left large debts to public hospitals are going to be liquidated. “We spoke with the president, so that these debts can be leveraged or paid by the State with the national budget for several years, so that the hospitals know that these debts will be paid with future validity.”
He also spoke that “those intermediates that are not so bad, but not so good either, the State would help them with some credits so that they can get ahead and patients are not left without any care.”
Likewise, he expressed that “we are going to sit down to write and organize these ideas so that in this way we arrive at a health reform that will serve Colombians.”
Concertation will always be the way to achieve good for Colombians!
We celebrate that together with @soyconservador and in dialogue with the president @petrogustavo We managed to carry out a reform that favors the health of all and where it is built on what has been built. pic.twitter.com/fLEIBFg8Qt
— Dilian Francisca T. (@DilianFrancisca) March 14, 2023
Other themes
For his part, Cepeda said that “what we had not agreed on and the president accepted is the amount of funds that existed in the initial project, so they are eliminated and free choice continues.”
Toro made reference to the fact that former President César Gaviria, head of liberalism, who is also part of the initial group that suggested the adjustments, gave his authorization for her and Cepeda to speak with the president. On Wednesday at a technical table, the decision will be shared with the benches and the speakers of the Seventh Commission, Cepeda reported.
For her part, the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, pointed out in an ANDI forum that the Government would withdraw the health reform in the event of significant modifications in the “essential points” of the Project. For this reason, she asked to be more receptive about this initiative, since if it is not approved, the EPS will have problems to function correctly.