Expectations for the arrival of health reforms to the Senate in the final debates

The Vice President and Minister of Equality, Francia Marquez, celebrated the passage of the initiative on its social networks: “For those millions of people who have suffered from a sluggish healthcare system, which pays no attention to the urgency but to the balance in favor of an EPS, yesterday democracy spoke out. Last night, democracy spoke out. After more than six months of deliberations, the majority of @CamaraColombia has voted to create a healthcare system in which services are guaranteed, preventive care is prioritized and the marginalized areas of our country are reached. Health will no longer be first class, second or third class depending on whether it is spent on prepaid medications or a guardianship is established so that EPS covers surgery.

And the official concluded by saying it is an ‘opportunity’ the House of Lords now has: ‘Life first. Congratulations to the representatives for this valuable effort. Pass the #HealthReform to the Senate of the Republic, which has a great opportunity to adopt it as an essential legacy for a society that calls for a life in dignity and social justice.”

For its part, the former president Iván Duque lincreased the approval and said that the “responsibility” lies with the Senate: “The Senate has the historic responsibility to save the Colombian healthcare system, which today is threatened by populism, demagoguery and hatred of mixed participation among the public and the private sector They want to return to the time of social security and activate a system of political plunder of social security. Those who defend this absurd reform are called ‘progressives’, but in reality they are poor people because they are going to ruin people’s health. 50 million people.”

And the former president added that the fight will also continue in the courts: “Both in the Senate and in the Cortes, the right to decent and quality healthcare will be defended. The healthcare system has already shown its strengths in COVID-19. We can always “improve the system but not destroy it. The House ‘victory’ they are crowing about is a call for the unrestricted defense of the health of an entire country.”

For his part, the senator Wilson Arias, of the Historical Pact, announced: “I am ready in Senate Committee VII to receive it and continue its defense and processing. The EPS is the backbone of neoliberalism, they have turned a right into a business and it will end.”

Meanwhile the representative Andrés Forero, from the Democratic Center, wrote: “Black Tuesday for Colombia. In @CamaraColombia they have dealt a fatal blow to the healthcare system. The government won anyway, but was not convincing: the reform took away the cabinet and the original coalition. The battle continues in the Senate and at the Constitutional Court.”

In turn, his fellow party member, Senator Maria Fernanda Cabalwondered: “Some traditional parties voted yes to destroy a system that needs to be improved, not eliminated. In the Senate we will oppose it with the necessary arguments and determination.”