Page 67 - Genomic Medicine in Emerging Economies

56 CHAPTER 4: Le v er aging Int ernational Collabor ations

FIGURE 4.2 Healthcare system in Colombia.
The health care system in Colombia involves three parties: (1) the state (Ministry of Health and Social
Protection and regulatory entities, (2) the insurance companies or health promoting entities (EPS) that
affiliate the population, and (3) the health providing institutions (IPS), which include hospitals, clinics,
laboratories, and health professionals, who deliver medical care. The health care system is divided into
two systems or regimes: the contributive regime and the subsidized regime or SISBEN. The Solidarity and
Guarantee Fund (FOSYGA) finances medical services not included in the Mandatory Health Plan (Plan
Obligatorio de Salud, POS). Modified from http://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/RessourcePDF.
action?ressource.ressourceId=48019. Data taken form Vargas, I., Vázquez, M.L., Mogollón-Pérez, A.S.,
Unger, J.-P., 2010. Barriers of access to care in a managed competition model: lessons from Colombia.
BMC Health Serv. Res. 10, 1-12.
The Colombian State created a benefits plan, called the “Mandatory Health
Plan (Plan Obligatorio de Salud, POS),” and regulates the health activities and
services to which the users of both regimes are entitled, which includes pri-
mary, secondary, and tertiary interventions. Individuals who have economic
means can choose to pay an additional health insurance called “Prepaid Medi-
cine,” in which they choose the health services, and thus they usually have
access to the best medical care.
The population coverage of the health care system increased from 37% at the
beginning of the 1990s to an estimated 94% in 2015 (Giuffrida et al., 2009).