Two Sides On Colombian Health System

Health System Crisis In Colombia

The Colombian health system has its defenders and its detractors. The paradox is that, at the level of diagnosis, and despite their antagonistic visions, both sides are right. In other words, as we will see these two visions are the two sides of the same coin.

They are right in view of our Ministry of Health and Social

Protection when they say that the Colombian health system offers a lot to its users, in particular it gives access to relatively recent treatments, even though they are expensive treatments and, on the other hand, Colombians pay a very low fraction, directly out of their pockets. Out-of-pocket expenses, determined by co-payment mechanisms and moderating fees are very low in Colombia, which means that this is for a loathing. 

But at the same time, the detractors of the health system have some valid criticisms. The everyday reality that many users of the health system face in Colombia.

The conclusion that we can formulate is that surely the best solution is not to change the whole health system because in this case we would take the risk of losing the progress made in the last decades after Law 100. The second conclusion is that, it is important to understand market failures, as those of regulation for the current system, because while the health system seems very functional and adequate on paper, many failures are faced on daily basis.

Susana Rengifo and 
Andrés Argel, Step 10