The worsening crisis in Nueva EPS endangers the continuity of treatments for patients with high costs, who warn that the company’s debt continues to rise and that financial uncertainty could leave thousands of users without insurance coverage in 2025.
According to Néstor Álvarez, spokesman for this patient group, The situation is further complicated by the possibility that the 2026 Capitation Payment Unit (UPC) will not take into account the services that were not provided in 2025.which would worsen the deficit in a period that coincides with the electoral calendar.
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In recent weeks, the relationship between patient organizations and Nueva EPS interveners has been characterized by instability and a lack of direct dialogue.
Álvarez pointed this out in quoted statements from Blu radio The The high turnover of managers and the lack of a clear roadmap have made crisis management difficult.
The organization’s spokesman recalled that on October 15, they held a sit-in in front of the Ombudsman’s office to demand the creation of a working group, currently called the “Right to Life Crisis Table.”
However, complained that the current auditor did not agree to meet in person and delegated the meetings to officials who did not have the competence to address critical issuesresulting in a dilution of responsibilities and impact on previous agreements.
Among the unfulfilled obligations, Álvarez noted the payment agreement for the care of people with HIV, which had not yet been concluded.
Aside from that, He highlighted that more than three thousand complaints have been lodged with the company in the last fifteen dayswithout a response having been received so far.
The spokesman warned that although demand for services usually declines in December, a greater deterioration in drug supply and care is expected in January, as many users return with decompensated diseases and without timely treatment.
The suspension of services, both open and tacit, by several IPSs reflects the seriousness of the problem. Álvarez stressed that the lack of a clear strategy and uncertainty about future financing jeopardize the care of the most vulnerable patients, while Nueva EPS’s debts continue to rise month by month.
The Association of High Cost Patients denounced that users of the EPS, intervened by the State, face a violation of their right to health amid the crisis that the Colombian health system is experiencing.
This was explained by the president of the club, Néstor Álvarez Lara The current emergency is due to government intervention in seven EPS, where 50% of the connected population lives.
Among the cases that illustrate the seriousness of the situation, the Health Secretariat of Valle del Cauca documented that of Anilda Zúñiga, who reported that her gastrostomy-fed daughter had not received essential supplies or food for two months.
“There are no treatments, no doctor’s appointments, no supplies, no food. My daughter has a gastrostomy and they haven’t given me anything for two months.”Zúñiga explained.
Álvarez Lara pointed this out The crisis deepened because the national government prioritized promoting its health care reform and neglected the management of the current system..
According to him, “the state currently controls seven EPSs, representing 50% of the population, and is perhaps where it most violates the right to health.”
The New EPS, under the intervention of the National Health Superintendency, has been the scene of protests by mothers demanding timely help due to delays in the delivery of medicines, lack of supplies and lack of specialized care that endangers the lives of patients.
One of those affected, Héctor, father of a 7-year-old girl Pfeiffer Type II, reports: “Given the complexity of my daughter’s case, she had to undergo surgeries more than 30 times. It really doesn’t do us any good to be treated in a primary ICU because they don’t have the specialists we need.”.
The Valley’s Minister of Health, María Cristina Lesmes, warned that the sector lacks the necessary resources to respond to demand and stressed the urgency of complying with the Court’s orders to guarantee the provision of services.
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