Nueva EPS crisis leaves thousands of Colombian patients without care

Nueva EPS Colombia health crisis medication shortages hospital debts

Patients of the public insurer Nueva EPS across Colombia are facing a severe health‑service breakdown. The insurer has repeatedly failed to schedule specialist appointments, deliver essential medicines such as the high‑cost anticonvulsant clobazam, and authorize treatments, leaving children like 7‑year‑old Alan Nicolás Sánchez Báez without needed care.

The situation has become nationwide, with users reporting congested emergency rooms, intensive‑care units lacking attention, and thousands awaiting procedures. In the department of Boyacá, about 8,000 scheduled appointments were cancelled, jeopardising the health of 625,873 affiliates, many of whom rely on the Hospital Universitario San Rafael, which claims a pending debt of more than 173 billion pesos from Nueva EPS.

A preventive review by the Procuraduría General de la Nación identified massive financial deficits in the insurer—liabilities over 22 trillion pesos and accumulated losses exceeding 11 trillion pesos—and incorporated alleged disciplinary responsibilities against the Ministry of Health and the Superintendencia Nacional de Salud. The review also recorded a surge in tutela actions, with 40,668 filed in the first quarter of 2026, representing 60 % of the total filed in 2023.

Entities: Emssanar · Hospital Universitario San Rafael · Ministry of Health (Colombia) · Mutual Ser · Nueva EPS · Procuraduría General de la Nación · Proteger EPS · Superintendencia Nacional de Salud

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[○ 1 SOURCE] Users of Nueva EPS report nationwide lack of specialist appointments, medication deliveries, and treatment authorizations, affecting thousands of patients. (9c0711b4-ca30-4b78-8a81-180a7bb8e42d)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Hospital Universitario San Rafael reported a pending debt from Nueva EPS of more than 173 billion pesos, with only 5 billion paid out of 72 billion agreed. (ae28bb9a-da87-416f-9256-14573b1a42bf)
[○ 1 SOURCE] In Boyacá, about 8,000 medical appointments were cancelled, affecting 625,873 Nueva EPS affiliates. (ae28bb9a-da87-416f-9256-14573b1a42bf)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The crisis led to a surge in tutela actions, with 40,668 filed in Q1 2026, representing 60 % of the total filed in 2023. (16290fda-e913-4bb6-b85e-ce821196e47c)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Nueva EPS has failed to provide specialist appointments and essential medicines to patients, including a 7‑year‑old boy with a neurodegenerative disease. (262c7c68-fe28-4fb8-87d2-fc76199ad68e)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The EPS system’s financial crisis includes negative equity and high debt to health service providers, causing service disruptions. (47367e86-8f99-4033-8a2b-b6eaeec60b4a)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The Procuraduría General de la Nación opened a preventive review and incorporated alleged disciplinary responsibilities against the Ministry of Health and the Superintendencia Nacional de Salud over a (16290fda-e913-4bb6-b85e-ce821196e47c)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The review found Nueva EPS liabilities exceeding 22 trillion Colombian pesos and accumulated losses over 11 trillion pesos. (16290fda-e913-4bb6-b85e-ce821196e47c)