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

Oscar Espinosa; Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes; Sergio Prada; Mery Bolívar; Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra; Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz

doi:10.1186/s13561-025-00620-z

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

Oscar Espinosa
, Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes
, Sergio Prada
, Mery Bolívar
, Juan Diego Mejía-Becerra
, Andrés I. Vecino-Ortíz

Faculty of Economics

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

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.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	31
Journal	Health Economics Review
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00620-z
State	Published - Dec 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Health Policy

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10.1186/s13561-025-00620-z

Cite this

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title = "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 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.",

author = "Oscar Espinosa and Paul Rodr{\'i}guez-Lesmes and Sergio Prada and Mery Bol{\'i}var and Mej{\'i}a-Becerra, \{Juan Diego\} and Vecino-Ort{\'i}z, \{Andr{\'e}s I.\}",

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T2 - a strictly political-ideological decision without technical-scientific arguments?

AU - Espinosa, Oscar

AU - Rodríguez-Lesmes, Paul

AU - Prada, Sergio

AU - Bolívar, Mery

AU - Mejía-Becerra, Juan Diego

AU - Vecino-Ortíz, Andrés I.

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AB - 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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ER -

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

Abstract

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