Sistema de salud cerró 2025 con pérdidas de $7,3 billones y arranca 2026 con déficit en UPC y presupuesto máximo
El patrimonio negativo del sistema de salud llegó a -$15,8 billones al cierre de 2025. Foto: iStock
TL;DR
- The Colombian health system concluded 2025 with financial restrictions, access issues, and structural insufficiencies, continuing into 2026.
- Financial data from EPS shows a sustained deterioration of equity, increased operational losses, and growing pressure on financing mechanisms.
- Net negative equity rose significantly, reaching -$15.8 trillion by the end of 2025, with potential to reach -$16 trillion.
- Operational losses accumulated to $7.3 trillion in 2025, with a substantial portion in the contributory regime.
- Global claims exceeded available income by 8.6 percentage points, indicating worsening financial insufficiency.
- Only 57% of the maximum budget was executed in 2025, causing delays in resource availability for EPS and impacting patient care.
- There was a 36.4% increase in petitions, complaints, claims, and suggestions (PQRS) in August 2025, with projections exceeding 2 million for the year.
- Health lawsuits (tutelas) also saw a sustained increase, projected to reach over 318,000 by the end of 2025.
- The 2026 budget for Adres is $110.7 trillion, but only $1 trillion is allocated for the maximum budget, a significant decrease from 2025.
- The budget for centralized medicine purchase is limited at $222 billion, posing a risk to drug supply, especially for rare diseases.
- The approved budget for the Unit of Payment per Capita (UPC) for 2026 shows increases, but estimates suggest a deficit due to unconsidered factors like the minimum wage hike.
- The Ministry of Health has not yet published the technical study for UPC calculation, raising questions about the assumptions used.
- The differential increases in UPC for the subsidized and contributory regimes are intended to equalize them, but may not guarantee financial sufficiency if reference UPCs do not cover actual costs.