“The way out of the financial situation of the health sector”: Acemi

The Colombian Association of Comprehensive Medicine Companies (Acemi), which integrates the main EPS of the contribution system, ensures that the budget addition project that has begun its process in Congress is An opportunity to address the funding shortage faced by the health sector.

The project seeks to add P16.9 billion to more than 405.6 billion pesos already approved for the state’s general budget for 2023.

(Keep reading: Sector by sector, what will the government spend the budget addition on?)

This addition will be distributed in 9.1 trillion pesos of investment, 7.3 trillion pesos for operation, and 500,000 million pesos for debt servicing.

The largest additional budget resources will go to the areas of education (2.2 trillion pesos), health and social protection (2.02 trillion pesos).Treasury (1.82 trillion pesos) and Housing, City and Provinces (1.50 trillion pesos).

(You may be interested in: Health reform: Acemi asserts 100,000 jobs would be lost if the law were approved)

Through a letter, the Health Federation requested that $10.45 billion be included in additional resources to ensure the financial closure of the health system this year: $3.1 billion for health expenditures; $3.4 trillion to cover delinquent debts and $3.9 trillion to cap budgets, that is, for innovative technologies and treatments not included in the benefit plan.

With regards to this last concept, it is important to note that approximately $250 billion is executed per month, Which means that in July the available resources will be exhausted, which by 2023 were $1.7 trillion.

Likewise, Acemi warned of the financial stress the system is currently experiencing: “All insurance resources finance the cost of health services, with no administrative management resources, which have to be borne from EPS assets.”

According to figures provided by the entity, for every $100 EPS received from the UPC subscription system in 2022, it paid $102 for health services, creating a deficit.

“We show that in the presentation (…) $2.03 trillion has been allocated to secure subscription-based and subsidized systems (…). The letter states that these resources, while necessary, are insufficient.”

(Also read: Acemi calls EPS disappearance in 2 years a setback)

In this regard, Paula Acosta, CEO of Acemi, said: “We believe that this law can be the way out of the difficult financial situation of the health sector, which is drawing a deficit due to the prolonged effects of the (Covid) virus, nearly 10 million members of the private EPS Us due to settlements and transfers, Mazaya 2022 plan update and The increase in frequency of use is due in part to the health reform uncertainty, which is estimated to be 20%.

* With information from the economy and business

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