Published in

Policy Brief

Authors

Pinto D., Buitrago G., Rodríguez-Lesmes P., Sánchez-Santiesteban D., Camacho S., Espinosa O., Bejarano V., Quintero-Motta NS., Castillo JS. Hone T., Millet C., Eslava-Schmalbach J., Guarnizo-Herreño C.

Abstract

Serving as an executive synthesis, this policy brief brings together evidence from four major studies evaluating national and local healthcare reforms in Colombia since 2013. It examines the equalization of Health Benefit Packages (PBS), the expansion of subsidized health insurance to Venezuelan migrant mothers, the primary care restructuring in Bogotá, and the performance of integrated chronic care routes (RIA-CCV). The collective findings reveal that expanding formal rights without concurrent supply-side capacity investments leads to resource substitution across schemes rather than net gains in system output. Key policy implications emphasize conducting territorial capacity diagnostics prior to reform, aligning diagnostic access with treatment availability, and institutionalizing patient-reported experience indicators to monitor healthcare quality.