Published in

Policy Brief

Authors

Buitrago G., Camacho S., Pinto D., Rodríguez-Lesmes P., Hone T.

Abstract

Following Constitutional Court Mandate T-760/2008, Colombia unified the Health Benefit Packages (PBS) of its Subsidized (RS) and Contributory (RC) schemes in 2013. This policy brief evaluates the structural impacts of this reform using nationwide administrative data (RIPS) from 2011 to 2015 via a difference-in-differences strategy. The results demonstrate a 24% to 56% increase in users of newly covered procedures within the subsidized regime, alongside geographic expansion into up to 106 additional municipalities. Conversely, the contributory regime experienced a concurrent 16% to 26% decline in the utilization of the same services, pointing to resource substitution under system-wide supply constraints. Furthermore, gains were concentrated in diagnostic procedures rather than therapeutic interventions, demonstrating that legal entitlement expansions require parallel supply-capacity growth to prevent care displacement.