Colombia: political setback for Gustavo Petro around a health reform project
There will be no health reform in Colombia. After more than fifteen months of debate, the Senate committee dealing with social policies derailed the flagship project of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in the country's history. The government has also taken control of two private health operators.
For the press, the government of Gustavo Petro (our illustration photo) has just recorded its greatest political defeat. AP - Ivan Valencia
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With our correspondent in Colombia,
Marie-Éve Detoeuf
For the press, the government of
Gustavo Petro
has just recorded its greatest political defeat. The head of state had put health reform before labor law reform and before pension reform.
The project was ambitious, since it sought to oust
private intermediaries such as health promotion companies (EPS) from the
health system
. For thirty years, these EPS, which are financed by social contributions and the state budget, have provided the interface between users and health operators.
Bitter failure
Petro wanted the state to regain control of the entire system, which was currently failing. The right and the powerful private health sector opposed his reform project. The government also failed to convince the center of the virtues of its project.
In
Colombia
, the State does not have a good reputation as an administrator. The failure was bitter for President Petro who, in the process, lost his majority in Congress and lost time in moving forward on the path to reforms.
Read alsoColombia: faced with opposition from Congress, the president proposes constitutional reform
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