Updated August 16, 2026 at 3:36 p.m. Colombia time
Colombia’s Health Ministry announced External Circular 0028 of 2026 at 11:11 a.m. on August 16. Under the national disaster declaration, the measure orders health insurers to maintain access to care and medicines despite displacement, patient transfers and damage caused by the earthquake.
Care networks must remain available and adapt
EPS insurers must monitor capacity, maintain or adapt provider networks and keep contingency channels available. They must also tell patients when a care pathway, network or service point changes.
The circular includes people displaced by the disaster. Priority consultations, outreach teams, medical vehicles, telemedicine and mental-health support may be used according to need.
Priority for patients whose treatment cannot wait
The ministry identifies people with chronic or high-cost conditions, pregnant women, older adults, people with disabilities, children and adolescents, and patients whose treatment is already under way. Facilities must also preserve continuity of care for hospital patients who have been transferred.
Replace lost treatment without emergency-created barriers
Medicines and health technologies that were lost or destroyed, as well as those already authorised but not delivered, must be provided without extra administrative barriers created by the emergency. This does not mean every service point is operating normally: network changes must be communicated to patients.
Oversight and financing mechanisms
The circular refers to ADRES-administered compensation mechanisms for care, transport, death, funeral costs and permanent disability under the applicable conditions. The National Health Superintendency is responsible for monitoring EPS compliance.