Petro's decree on transferring affiliates to Nueva EPS suspended
The Council of State has provisionally suspended the decree issued by President Gustavo Petro's government that ordered the mass transfer of affiliates from various EPS to the intervened Nueva EPS in several areas of the country...
TL;DR
- The Council of State provisionally suspended Decree 0182 of 2026, issued by the government of President Gustavo Petro.
- The decree aimed to implement a health insurance model with a territorial and population-based focus, involving the mass transfer of affiliates.
- A lawsuit argued the decree violated the right to health and free choice by limiting the number of operational EPS based on municipality size.
- The court noted Nueva EPS, an intervened entity, has recurring financial standard non-compliance and technical reserve deficits.
- The suspension was based on the reasoning that concentrating populations in intervened or financially unstable entities is unreasonable.
- The government defended the decree, stating it aimed to correct fragmentation and strengthen the public network.
- The ruling magistrate concluded the measures were not proportional, necessary, or idoneous, and could lead to a regression in health rights protection.
- The immediate effect is the halt of the new territorial insurance model's implementation.
- The suspension means the planned mass transfers of over six million affiliates, with nearly 2.6 million slated for Nueva EPS, are immediately stopped.