The discussion on the health reform once again caused tension in the Congress of the Republic after the project was placed as the first item on the agenda of the Seventh Committee of the Senate on Tuesday, December 9th.
The initiative, which had already passed its first two debates in the House of Representatives in March 2025, is now facing a final phase marked by disagreements over its financial viability and its impact on patient care.
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And the Senate’s Seventh Commission, responsible for conducting the third debate on the reform, was unable to formally convene the meeting due to disagreements among its members over how to handle the message of urgency and persistence. Several congressmen, including Senator Berenice Bedoya (ASI), Senator Wilson Arias (Historical Pact) and Senator Fabián Díaz (Alianza Verde), insisted that they would not vote on the agenda until there was legal clarity on the procedures in force.
Faced with this scenario, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti directed a new taunt at the senators of the Seventh Senate Commission: “APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER. And health care reform has not progressed in all these months in the Seventh Commission. The Seventh Commission sucked the government dry, it despised the sick, and it helped the EPS get the money.”“, he wrote on his X account.
In the Senate plenary session, Senator Díaz questioned the Chairman of the Seventh Commission, Miguel Ángel Pinto (Liberal Party), about the delays in processing the articles. According to the senator, the intention of some parliamentarians is to delay discussion of the project.
“What they are looking for, and what they have been looking for, is to delay the discussion. Since they have the majority to put health care reform on hold, they don’t. And why will it be like this? Because I appeal to them, as I did with labor reform“, assured Díaz.
The government also questioned the recent report of the Autonomous Committee on Financial Rules (Carf), arguing that it does not reflect the real impact of the reform. The Minister of Health, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, explained that the document did not take into account healthy taxes, an already approved source of financing, and used Capitation Payment Unit (UPC) calculations that do not match official data, changing the project’s financial projections.
“We want to debate this reform, but we are summoned for hours and a new reason always arises why we are not making progress.“, said the portfolio manager after withdrawing from the Seventh Commission due to the constant delays that prevented the meeting from continuing.
In contrast, Senator Pinto has defended the Commission’s actions, pointing out that the delay was due to the fact that vote-buying practices were not allowed: “If it has not been given in here, it is because here in the Seventh Commission, in my presidency, we do not welcome the “Olmedos” who will buy the votes in the Seventh Commission“, referring to the former director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, Olmedo López, who was indicted for corruption.
The truth is that the health reform project, which has been facing delays for several months, still depends on the approval of the Seventh Commission to continue its process and reach the plenary session in the Senate. Meanwhile, the government reiterated that it is ready for a debate if the legislature allows it and that the country “needs a serious discussion to ensure that health is a real right and not a service full of obstacles.”
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