President Gustavo Petro commented on the Fiscalía's charges against José Fernando Cardona, former president of Nueva EPS, stating that it confirms the entity's bankruptcy since 2021. According to Petro, the insurer continued extracting billions in state resources despite its insolvency. The intervention and liquidation of Nueva EPS address its impact on Colombia's hospital network.
The Fiscalía General de la Nación formally charged José Fernando Cardona, who served as president of Nueva EPS during the period when alleged billing irregularities occurred. This entity, currently under government intervention, has faced scrutiny over financial and operational issues.
In response to the case, President Gustavo Petro stated: "Do you know what this imputation of charges against the president of Nueva EPS means? That Nueva EPS was bankrupt since 2021, but it continued taking resources from the state for billions of pesos." Petro stressed that the liquidation of the EPS was due to it "bankrupting half of Colombia's hospital and clinic network and because it would immediately bankrupt all other EPS in the country."
Furthermore, the president criticized the EPS model as financial intermediaries in health, arguing that they "only serve for their owners to drain the state's money." He proposed transforming them into health managers without financial intermediation, an initiative blocked by those who, according to him, steal resources and allied with the Senate's Seventh Commission. Despite this, Petro assured that the health reform is progressing.
This case occurs amid rising complaints against Nueva EPS. In Huila, for instance, reports to the Defensoría del Pueblo increased by 564%, from 39 in 2024 to 259 in 2025, mainly due to lack of timely medications and denial of services. Users like Marcela Torres have reported waits of up to 20 days to obtain essential treatments, exacerbating the regional health provision crisis.
