(Bloomberg) — Colombian regulators denied a request by one of the country’s largest insurers to exit the public health system, a decision that risks the company’s financial viability.
A petition filed by EPS Sura, the public insurer unit of Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA, was rejected by the health regulator on Monday, almost seven months after it was sent. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Sura said that it is in talks with the watchdog to find a solution and urged the government to provide enough funds in 2025 to ease the current cash crunch.
“We have repeatedly stated that the health system in Colombia is facing a structural and circumstantial crisis,” EPS Sura said. Health insurers, known as entidades promotoras de salud, or EPS, have warned that delays in payments and insufficient government transfers have put their survival at risk.
President Gustavo Petro has been trying to overhaul the health care system to increase the government’s role in the sector. His administration has denied that transfers to the system are insufficient. In April, the government took over health insurer, EPS Sanitas, which failed to meet financial reserve requirements.
If the government doesn’t increase the transfer sent to the insurers, EPS Sura may be forced to take a more drastic measure such as liquidation, according to Mario Gomez, managing partner for Colombia at public affairs and business consulting firm Prospectiva Public Affairs Lat.Am.
“The regulator justified its decision by saying that without EPS Sura, there isn’t a way to cover all those insured,” said Gomez. That contradicts the government’s plan to overhaul the system and practically cut out private companies, he added.
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