Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?

Abstract The Colombian Ministry of Health's decision to increase the health insurance premium (Capitation Payment Unit) by 5.36% for 2025, close to the inflation rate, has sparked controversy. This adjustment disregards factors that contribute to rising healthcare costs, leading to concerns ove...

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Main Authors: Oscar Espinosa, Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes, Sergio Prada, Mery Bolívar, Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra, Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:Health Economics Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00620-z
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author Oscar Espinosa
Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes
Sergio Prada
Mery Bolívar
Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra
Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz
author_facet Oscar Espinosa
Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes
Sergio Prada
Mery Bolívar
Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra
Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz
author_sort Oscar Espinosa
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The Colombian Ministry of Health's decision to increase the health insurance premium (Capitation Payment Unit) by 5.36% for 2025, close to the inflation rate, has sparked controversy. This adjustment disregards factors that contribute to rising healthcare costs, leading to concerns over the guarantee the right to health for Colombians and financial sustainability of the health system. The insufficient increase raises the likelihood of surpassing premium coverage, as evidenced by recent actuarial studies. This decision could affect the quality of services and jeopardize the health of 50 million inhabitants in the Colombian territory. The paper calls for a more robust, technical approach to ensure the financial stability and quality of care in the Colombian health system.
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publishDate 2025-04-01
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series Health Economics Review
spelling doaj-art-e7d9fd9ab83c498ead055b210b29cfe32025-08-20T03:10:05ZengBMCHealth Economics Review2191-19912025-04-011511510.1186/s13561-025-00620-zHealth insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?Oscar Espinosa0Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes1Sergio Prada2Mery Bolívar3Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra4Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz5Economic Models and Quantitative Methods Research Group, Centro de Investigaciones Para El Desarrollo, Universidad Nacional de ColombiaSchool of Economics, Universidad del RosarioCentro PROESA, Universidad ICESIFaculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Universidad Jorge Tadeo LozanoDepartment of Statistics & Applied Probability, University of California Santa BarbaraDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthAbstract The Colombian Ministry of Health's decision to increase the health insurance premium (Capitation Payment Unit) by 5.36% for 2025, close to the inflation rate, has sparked controversy. This adjustment disregards factors that contribute to rising healthcare costs, leading to concerns over the guarantee the right to health for Colombians and financial sustainability of the health system. The insufficient increase raises the likelihood of surpassing premium coverage, as evidenced by recent actuarial studies. This decision could affect the quality of services and jeopardize the health of 50 million inhabitants in the Colombian territory. The paper calls for a more robust, technical approach to ensure the financial stability and quality of care in the Colombian health system.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00620-zColombian health systemCapitation payment unitFinancial sustainabilityHealth risk
spellingShingle Oscar Espinosa
Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes
Sergio Prada
Mery Bolívar
Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra
Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz
Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
Health Economics Review
Colombian health system
Capitation payment unit
Financial sustainability
Health risk
title Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
title_full Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
title_fullStr Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
title_full_unstemmed Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
title_short Health insurance premium in Colombia for 2025: a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?
title_sort health insurance premium in colombia for 2025 a strictly political ideological decision without technical scientific arguments
topic Colombian health system
Capitation payment unit
Financial sustainability
Health risk
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00620-z
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