They ask the receiving EPS, to guarantee attention to transferred users of Medimás

The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation urged all Companies Providing Health Services (EPS) to guarantee services for those who were transferred after the mandatory liquidation process of Medimás EPS.

The Public Prosecutor's Office asked the receiving EPS to ensure continuity of treatment, as well as the supply of medicines, for users who were transferred and require these services to safeguard their health.

The Attorney General for Health, Social Security and Decent Work, Diana Ojeda Visbal, recalled that it is essential to ensure this continuity of service, especially for patients who require high-cost treatment.

Monitoring the provision of service by the EPS

On this occasion, the Office of the Procurator took the opportunity to ensure that in recent years “preventive vigilance has been exercised regarding the fulfillment of the obligations to guarantee the provision of health services by the EPS”.

As well as the Superintendency's compliance with the obligations of Inspection, Surveillance and Control, in defense of the fundamental rights of the members, the legal system and public assets.

In the case of EPS Medimás, the Public Ministry assured that the process of taking possession and the forced administrative intervention for its liquidation have been monitored on a permanent basis. It should be recalled that this process was ordered by the National Superintendency of Health by Resolution 864-6 of March 08, 2022.

At the hearing held on March 11, 1,490,265 members of Medimás EPS were transferred through a regulated and coordinated procedure between the Ministry of Health, the Administrator of Resources of the General Social Security System in Health (ADRES) and the National Superintendency of Health to the following insurers : New EPS, Sanitas EPS, Total Health EPS, Famisanar EPS, Coosalud EPS, EPS Sura, Compensate EPS, Cajacopi EPS, Comfenalco Valle EPS, Aliansalud EPS, A.I.C. EPS, Pijaos Health EPS and Mallamas E.P.S.I.

Complaints and debts led to the closure of Medimás EPS

In a statement, Supersalud said that Medimás will stop operating in 232 municipalities in 14 departments of Colombia. His argument is that the entity had made a commitment in 2017 to capitalize on and reduce complaints from its users.

Far from decreasing, complaints and debts increased. Between January and November last year, Medimás received 57,653 PQRS and 6,489 guardianships. According to Supersalud, these numbers were indicators that the company was not able to respond to its members for the health service.

But it's not just a matter of numbers, but of particular cases that would be easily solved with some heart and common sense. The surveillance entity found cases of people with HIV who waited up to 41 days to receive their doses of antiretrovirals, an essential drug to prevent the AIDS phase and transmission.

In other cases of chronic and catastrophic diseases, such as cardiovascular conditions, diabetes and cancer, for which time is crucial, EPS took up to 27 days in 35% of cases to respond to SQRS due to delays in delivery.

As if that were not enough, during the four years that Medimás spent under the special surveillance measure they believed to have been extended, EPS was the most fined in the country and the one that received the most requests to leave to other service providers. Since July 2017, 3.4 million people left Medimás, of which 2.3 did so voluntarily.

In total, Medimás would have met seven conditions to liquidate an EPS due to failures in its standards in the provision of the health service.

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