The Minister of Health, Ana María Vesga, met this Thursday with representatives of unions, insurers, providers, and other actors in the health system to present the shock plan with which the Government seeks to address the financial and care crisis in the sector.
However, media were not invited to the meeting, in line with the presidential directive not to make announcements from the ministries.
EL TIEMPO spoke with two sources who directly participated in the meeting and who recounted, under the condition of anonymity, the main points of the meeting.
No resources for the 10 trillion promised in the campaign
One of the consulted sources explained that one of the most discussed topics was the campaign promise to allocate an additional 10 trillion pesos to the health system, a commitment that, according to what was conveyed to the attendees, currently has no budgetary backing. “There is nowhere to get it from because there is no money,” summarized the source, attributing the lack of resources to the outgoing government not leaving available funds to honor that commitment.
Despite this, the source indicated that the intention to comply with the orders of the Constitutional Court contained in rulings 007, 540, 529, and an additional one persists, although they warned that this will clashes with the lack of money: “The intent remains intact,” but without additional resources the system will hardly manage to stabilize.
The shock plan, well-intentioned but without defined priorities
Regarding the shock plan presented by the minister, the first source described it as an initiative with good intentions, although still unresolved on a critical point: which populations will be prioritized in care and under what criteria.
They said that, as currently proposed, the plan does not yet offer a full guarantee of the right to health for all patients, and that those prioritization criteria need to be specified.
Nonetheless, the source highlighted the minister’s willingness to maintain ongoing dialogue with system actors, as well as the commitment to protect the hospital network and health human talent.
A budget that exists, but is already likely committed
The same source mentioned that among the financing alternatives discussed at the meeting, there was talk of resources already existing in the system, particularly about 2.5 trillion pesos from Maximum Budgets that, in theory, had not been executed.
However, this expert was one of the actors who directly questioned that figure: they assured that several EPS have already changed the allocation of those Maximum Budgets to pay for services under the Health Benefits Plan (PBS), so those resources would not really be available as the Government suggests.
The sector, almost entirely represented
The second source consulted by this newspaper agreed that the minister socialized the progress of the shock plan, which — according to what was informed to the attendees — is “quite advanced,” although it still requires adjustments, particularly regarding information related to the intervened EPS.
According to this account, gaps persist not only in the financial information of those entities but also in data on the actual provision of health services to users and patients.
This source highlighted that “almost the entire sector” was represented at the meeting and that there was an explicit commitment to join the tasks demanded by the emergency. They added that, faced with the financial difficulties raised by the unions, the minister responded that the Ministry is analyzing budget alternatives amid what was described as the nation’s fiscal tightness.
According to this second source, the general atmosphere was one of “much hope” from the sector, although there were also concerns about how to contribute to resolving the humanitarian crisis the system is going through.
No official announcements, for now
Both sources agreed that no official statement or formal announcement came out of the meeting. The second source specified that the shock plan will have an additional review and adjustment, which — according to what was informed — should be finalized during the course of next week.
EDWIN CAICEDO
Environment and Health Journalist
@CaicedoUcros