Colombia Unveils Universal Healthcare Plan

The Colombian government has presented its reforms to the health system that would extend coverage to the uninsured. The proposal has been called The Change Towards Health for Life (El Cambio hacia una salud para la vida) consists of 152 articles aimed at implementing universality for the first time.

President Gustavo Petro and Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, presented the bill at a rally in Plaza Núñez, Bogota, where she said that Colombians will now have the “the fundamental right to health”.

At the same rally, President Petro said, “We are going to transform the system to cover the entire national territory, without exceptions, and include all citizens without the need to have an insurance card…What we want is for a doctor to be able to attend to the home of a campesino family, no matter how far away it is”.

The reform will remove power from the current Health Promotion Entities (EPS) that are the current intermediaries between patients and service providers.

The bill is considered one of the most important proposals by the Petro government so far, it emphasizes that health is a right and should not be a privilege or a business. Before being passed into law, the bill must pass four debates in both chambers of Congress, where it can undergo modifications.

The bill was presented yesterday, and today President Petro has organized rallies across the country in support of the social reforms of his government. On his official twitter account he said, “This Tuesday I’ll see you at the balcony of the Nariño palace, and in all the public squares of the country. Let’s go with together for the change of Colombia, for the people of Colombia.”
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