FILE - Supporters of Colombian President Gustavo Petro march in favor of his proposed health care reforms, in Bogota, Colombia, Feb. 14, 2023. Colombian insurance company Sura announced on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, that it will withdraw from the nation’s health system because the resources it receives from Colombia’s government to manage more than 5 million patients are not enough to cover its growing costs.
“The crisis at Sura is the crisis of our country,” the influential former President Alvaro Uribe wrote on his X account. “I hope there are widespread actions against these government decisions that are destroying the health sector.” Hospitals have also complained of growing debts owed to them by the insurance companies, which soared during the pandemic and currently stand at $1.5 billion.
Government critics argue the government is now trying to bypass opposition in congress and impose its reforms in a de facto manner by starving private insurers of funding and taking other decisions that make it unviable for them to operate in Colombia. Sergio Guzman, a political risk analyst in Bogota, estimates that Colombia’s government now directly or indirectly controls about half of the nation’s health insurance accounts. He said that amount will increase significantly if Sura’s 5 million affiliates are transferred to a state run insurance company once the company completes its withdrawal from the healthcare system.