After several months of uncertainty, the Government submitted the Health Reform bill to the Congress of the Republic, which aims to restructure the current healthcare system in Colombia.
(Keep reading: Health reform LIVE: Follow the filing of the project in Congress).
During the ceremony, President Gustavo Petro outlined the different fronts covered by the initiative and how the new plan will benefit Colombians.
“What we want is for a doctor to be able to go anywhere within the national borders and take care of anyone. The area can be organized so that its people and residents can be permanently cared for by professional medical teams.” He pointed.
Then he continued by applying to practice, which is one of the axes of the new understanding of health: “We want to strengthen the primary care and preventive health model,” he said.
And he explained what Primary Care Center means: He argued that “a territory of about 20,000 people” and that no Colombians would be excluded from these areas.
(Also: National Health Council: Powerful entity fueling Health Reform).
These will include “a network of hospitals and public-private office clinics located in the region itself.”
Regarding the money allocated to health, he said that “there will not be any intermediation in public resources”, but that all health resources will be managed by the future Health Resources Manager (Address) and the invoice will be issued. services, thereby directing the money to the hospital, clinic or practice.
Petro also touched on the philosophy that supports this new way of managing health: “There will be no more patients, no more patients in public health in Colombia. people will be people (…)”.
He said the healthcare system implied in this law embodies a strong state presence, but added that it is also complex “as it undoubtedly allows private presence, but involves planning with a central purpose that is not utility and greed.” the right to life of people who are different”.
On the other hand, Minister of Health Carolina Corcho emphasized that the project, which includes 18 chapters and more than 150 articles, aims to protect the fundamental right to health. “Health is a right and it does not accept inequalities, discrimination, and discrimination. We want to represent this in this bill,” he said.
Corcho made it clear that the reform was based on five pillars:
1. Public management of health resources.
2. Consolidation of the primary health care system through public-private and mixed networks reaching the whole country.
3. A special working regimen for healthcare workers.
4. Specific intervention in the social determinants of health (drinking water and food sovereignty).
5. Establishing a single public information system to include all transactions and activities to make it more transparent.
One of the concepts introduced by the reform is the regionalization of the Health Promotion Organizations (EPS) consisting of them. They will concentrate their activities in the provinces and departments where they have the largest number of subsidiaries and the largest organization in service provision, thus freeing them from geographic distribution.
These organizations must have been authorized at the time of the law and cannot suspend their work.
In addition, it is noteworthy that new EPS will not be allowed to enter the Health System as of the enactment of the law. In each household, all its members must be affiliated with the same EPS. In a jurisdiction where there is only one EPS, it may not refuse insurance to the population in that jurisdiction.
In cases where Nueva EPS centers are not available, the articles are The person who has the capacity to undertake the operation in the region in question will be in charge of insuring the population.
“For regional reorganization of affiliates during the transition, new EPS or existing EPS may assume that EPS affiliates are liquidated or are unable to serve users,” the article says.
The said New EPS will contract with Comprehensive Stable Primary Care Centers (Capirs), if necessary, or transfer their affiliates to centers operating under the rules of the new health system in sub-regions or municipalities that are prioritized in practice. When the Capirs organization needs human talent, EPS employees will have priority to join them.
(You may be interested: 10 key questions from patients about the Reform project).
To this end, a surplus staff factory will be set up, whose jobs will be subject to free assignment and removal, tasked with assuring the transition and consolidation of the health system.
Their working regime is the regime that will correspond to the legal nature of the institutions to which they are affiliated.
In the transition period, after the corresponding legal regime for healthcare workers and the establishment of Capirs personnel factories, the recruitment of workers from EPS will be given priority in accordance with the regulation to be enacted.
The Health Resources Manager (Address) will have the authority to transmit directly to the contracted health service providers in the EPS networks.
Likewise, recognition of the Pay Per Capita Unit (UPC) may be withdrawn when appropriate due to the gradual transition demands of the population in the transition period for health promotion organizations to “do it regularly”. Delivery of the population connected to the new social health insurance system” is stated in the article.
The powers granted for the address will be used – according to the initiative applied for – to the extent permitted by their capacity, duly assessed by the national Government and the Ministry of Health.
Progress analysis will be made every two years and relevant capacities will be evaluated.
The project also identifies the resources needed to carry out credit allocation projects in favor of health providers and may likewise allocate the portfolio created by paying for the health services provided – whether public, private or mixed. to EPSs that are in liquidation or will be liquidated as a result of the law proposal. It is worth clarifying that the transformation of EPS will also eliminate the role of affiliates.
Source: Exame
