The Healthcare System in Colombia: EPS, Contributory and Subsidised Schemes, Access for a Foreigner, Hospitals and Emergencies

The general health social security system (SGSSS) covers sickness and maternity within a broader framework of social protection. The EPS (entidades promotoras de salud), which may be private, public or mixed, enrol members, collect contributions and organise access to care; the IPS (instituciones prestadoras de salud) are the hospitals, clinics and practices that provide care. The Superintendencia Nacional de Salud supervises the whole system (CLEISS, the French Social Security Centre for European and International Liaison).

• Contributory scheme: employees, self-employed people and pensioners who contribute on their income. In addition to care, it gives entitlement to cash benefits in case of incapacity for work due to ordinary illness and during maternity or paternity leave.
• Subsidised scheme: people without sufficient resources, classified at levels 1 and 2 of the Sisbén, the socioeconomic classification grid for households. It gives access to the same care, without cash benefits.
• Health benefits plan (PBS): list of services and technologies financed by the per-member allocation (UPC), published and updated by the Ministry of Health; exclusions are covered by a separate resolution.

The contribution rates for each status appear in the guide to working in Colombia.

The CLEISS indicates that resident foreigners access the SGSSS through the contributory or the subsidised scheme depending on their resources. The Ministry of Health lists the cédula de extranjería among the identity documents valid for enrolment: an employee is registered as a dependent contributor by the employer, and a person with the ability to pay registers as a self-employed member of the contributory scheme. The family can be enrolled on presentation of identity documents and proof of the family relationship, and the care facility reports any newborn to the EPS at birth.

The visa shapes the path. The M worker visa goes through enrolment by the employer. The M pensioner visa states that it does not allow enrolment in the Colombian social security system, except under a bilateral or multilateral agreement, and requires health cover in Colombia or a policy valid across the territory. Several V visas (tourism, studies, digital nomad, rentier) also require an all-risk policy: accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalisation, death and repatriation (resolution 5477 of 2022). The guide to living in Colombia details these visas.

The path begins with the general practitioner of the IPS attached to the EPS, who refers you to specialists. The contributory scheme requires a contribution, set each year by the Ministry of Health according to declared income:

• Cuota moderadora (per-activity user fee) in 2026: about COP 5,000 (€1.3) below 2 minimum wages, COP 20,100 (€5.4) between 2 and 5 and COP 52,800 (€14.2) above 5, under circular 048 of 2025 and at the CLEISS rate.
• Copago (co-payment on certain services): 11.5%, 17.3% or 23% of the value of the service depending on income, with a ceiling per event of COP 373,715, 1,497,644 or 2,995,409 (about €101, €403 or €806).
• Subsidised scheme: no cuota moderadora, and a copago of 10% at most.

Exemptions exist, notably for emergency care, certain chronic diseases, cancer and disability (CLEISS). The detail of what is covered for each item appears in the guide to healthcare reimbursement in Colombia.

Only the largest Colombian cities have infrastructure able to handle every type of emergency: these are most often private clinics, which generally admit only patients who have paid in advance. The French embassy cannot cover these costs, France Diplomatie points out, and it recommends insurance covering surgery, hospitalisation and evacuation.

• Additional health plans: medicina prepagada (prepaid medicine), health policies and supplementary plans are optional and paid for by the insured person, on top of the compulsory contribution. They are offered by EPS, adapted entities, prepaid medicine companies and insurers. The Financial Superintendence states that taking one out requires membership of the contributory scheme.
• Earthquake of 10 August 2026: a first assessment by PAHO/WHO, based on the health secretariats, lists 24 health facilities affected in Cauca, Chocó, Caldas, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca and Quindío. The state of services should be checked locally before an appointment or a planned hospital stay.

The expat health insurance page compares the international contracts that meet the visas’ policy requirement; Expavy helps you weigh them against your situation.

123 is the single national emergency line: free and open 24 hours a day, it brings together police, security and health services (Función Pública). The French embassy in Bogotá, at Carrera 11 No. 93-12, can be reached on +57 601 378 95 15.

• Enrolled member: emergency care is provided without a cuota moderadora or copago, unless the emergency doctor concludes that the situation was not an emergency (CLEISS).
• Non-enrolled person: for a person with no cover or resources, the State guarantees initial emergency care, according to the Ministry of Health. Private clinics, for their part, generally ask for payment or a payment guarantee up front, hence the value of carrying proof of insurance.

The guide to how a medical repatriation unfolds describes what follows a serious emergency.

Prescription medicines are dispensed on the prescription of an authorised professional: doctor, dentist or optometrist (INVIMA). The PBS finances the medicines on its lists, including essential generics (CLEISS).

• Yellow fever: the Ministry of Health recommends the vaccine, as a single dose that protects for life in most people, at least 10 days before entering a high or very high risk area. France Diplomatie also recommends it, notably for the national parks and certain departments.
• Measles: the Ministry of Health recommends vaccination of international travellers, with two doses of the trivalent vaccine for young children.
• Mosquito-borne diseases: dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever, Oropouche virus and malaria below 1,800 metres of altitude, according to France Diplomatie.
• Altitude: Bogotá lies at 2,700 metres, and some travellers experience altitude sickness there (headaches, insomnia, shortness of breath).

France Diplomatie also recommends updating vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis and whooping cough, and discussing hepatitis A, typhoid and rabies with your doctor depending on the stay.

Decree 858 of 30 July 2025 adopted the preventive, predictive and resolutive health model, which aims to strengthen primary care, with progressive and territorial implementation. The Ministry of Health specifies that this decree does not replace the legislative process for the structural reform of the system, whose debate continues in the Senate.

The rules described on this page apply on the date of verification. Before choosing an EPS, taking out a supplementary plan or planning treatment, consult the Ministry of Health and the Superintendencia Nacional de Salud: the framework may change.