Around 8:30 pm the key meeting for the health reform that took place in Casa de Nariño between the Government and the representatives of the Liberal, Conservative and ‘de la U’ parties ended.
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The Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, in a press conference after the meeting, announced the conclusions of the meeting that lasted three hours and 40 minutes.
Prada assured that it was an “intense” dialogue with the political parties, the Minister of Health Carolina Corcho and the speakers of the reform. The atmosphere was not easy, because minutes before entering the Palace, the director of the Conservative Party, Efraín Cepeda, stated that the text that they were given in the morning did not have what they agreed with the Government.
He even expressed his disagreement with the technical team of Minister Corcho because, according to him, it did not include what had already been agreed between those three communities and President Petro.
Efraín Cepeda, director of the Conservative party, at the meeting on March 27.
And it is that the Executive planned to have ready the paper that will be presented to Congress this Monday. This was announced last Friday by President Petro, but disagreements prevented that objective and, for now, there is no final text.
According to the government spokesman, the percentage of what is agreed with those parties has already increased. “It has been said a lot that we had an agreement of 95. Now there is 99%, that is, it is imminent that we have the possibility of advancing in the presentation of the paper and the final articles that include all the elements that were concluded as fundamental contributions to the project.
Minister Alfonso Prada accompanied by Minister of Health Carolina Corcho and speakers for the reform.
Prada maintained that the differences with the liberals, conservatives and ‘la U’ -parties of the government coalition but not Petristas- were “overcome”. In other words, the reform could be saved after a new agreement with these parties.
Despite this, there are still doubts about the position that the Liberal Party will have, since Former President César Gaviria and head of that group did not attend the meeting at the Palace.
Germán Escobar represented the Liberals and, according to what Minister Prada said on Monday night, the delegate will have a meeting with the former president to inform him of the consensus reached. “We hope that this consensus that we have generated around this text is practically unanimous in the coalition and we hope that it is expressed in this way in the Congress of the Republic,” the government spokesman emphasized.
Germán Escobar at Casa de Nariño, in the absence of César Gaviria, greeting President Gustavo Petro.
The final decision of ‘the reds’ would come out of that meeting. However, EL TIEMPO, minutes before the meeting between Petro and parties, was able to establish with sources close to former President Gaviria that they are leaning not to support the government’s project and present their own reform in the next legislative semester, that is, after half year
David Racero, president of the House of Representatives and one of the leaders of the Historical Pact, was also present at the meeting at the Casa de Nariño.
Gaviria’s absence, naturally, was notorious. Not only because he is an ex-president but because without his collectivity, liberalism, the accounts for the project to advance in Congress are thrown into disarray for the Government.
EL TIEMPO obtained the draft that bothered him and in which the role of private EPSs -which would be called Health and Life Management Entities- is minimized, contrary to what the parties had proposed. In this, the Government proposes that they only provide services of medium and high complexity, something that the Liberal Party considers will end up affecting their economic viability.
At the Palacio meeting, however, a consensus was reached. In the presentation it will be known how the final proposal turned out.
Due to this draft and Gaviria’s decision, the analysts considered this Monday afternoon that the future of the reform, President Petro’s flagship project, was in intensive care.
And what happened to Dilian Francisco Toro and Efraín Cepeda?
In the image of Prada’s statement, however, there were neither Toro nor Cepeda. Because? “They left the Palace directly to meet with Gaviria to tell him in person what had happened,” a source told EL TIEMPO.
If the warning of the liberal boss finally materializes, it would be necessary to do the accounts again. With the votes of the three parties, including the Liberal, its approval could be guaranteed, since the support will initially be 109 (Pact, Liberal, Conservative, ‘la U’ and Comunes), of the 186 that the Chamber has. And to these could be added 15 votes from the Green Alliance, which has not yet taken an official position, and from the 16 peace seats, which divide their forces although last night they were in the photo with Prada. The opposition would be left with 34 votes, 19 from Cambio Radical and 15 from the Democratic Center.
Germán Escobar was representing the Liberal Party.
While the accounts in the Senate would be at least 63 in favor, not counting the 13 of the Green Alliance, and 24 against. In the Chamber, if liberalism leaves, that account would remain at 91 and the Government would have to go out to ensure each vote to have peace of mind.
In the Senate, the situation appears to be less pressing for the Government. There are 106 seats (those of Rodolfo Hernández and the liberal Mario Cataño no longer legally exist) and the majority is achieved with 54 votes.
With the coalition in optimal conditions, the Government would have 20 votes from the Historical Pact, 15 conservatives, 14 liberals, 13 from Alianza Verde, 10 from ‘la U’ and 5 from Comunes. At the close of this edition, the announcement of the final path that Gaviria will take was expected.
The agreed health model that would be implemented
Prada assured that among the consensus it was established that the proposal will revolve around a mixed health system in Colombia.
“There is primary care through the Primary Care Centers as a fundamental element that aims to bring health very close to the home or workplace of each Colombian,” he explained.
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Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada.
On the other hand, he explained that “the provision of the health service is going to be completely territorialized, reaching families effectively, so that the right to health is felt very closely.”
Regarding the EPS, he stated that they will play a “fundamental” administrative role within the system, recovering part of their experience in the last 30 years.
These entities, Prada said, will help the CAPS, the care centers that will be public and private, “provide a service throughout the network that will be coordinated from the Ministry of Health.”
Armando Neira – POLITICAL EDITOR
Aura Saavedra Álvarez – POLITICAL EDITOR