EPS transfer: it takes 360 days, not a year, and the day you request it determines the month.

If you're counting twelve months to request a transfer to your EPS (health insurance provider), you're overestimating. The regulation doesn't mention one year: it mentions... 360 days, and allows them to be added even if they weren't consecutive. Many families wait weeks longer because of this incorrect calculation, and many others lose an entire month by registering the application one day late.

At Hepacom, we support families fighting for decent housing, and health always comes up in the conversation. Today we reviewed the current decree and the official website, and here's what each says.

How long do you have to be with your EPS (Health Promoting Entity) to request a transfer?

Three hundred and sixty days. The Decree 780 of 2016, The single decree for the health sector, in its article 2.1.7.2, requires being registered in the same EPS for a minimum period of 360 continuous or discontinuous days, counted from the time of registration.

The word that almost no one underlines is discontinuous. Paragraph 1 of that same article states that when someone has had different statuses within the same EPS, whether as a contributor, beneficiary, additional affiliate, or affiliate of the subsidized regime, All registration days are added together. In other words, if you were a dependent of your mother for eight months and have been contributing to the same pension fund for five months on your own, you've already met the requirements. Your eligibility doesn't start from scratch when you change your status. However, the days of suspension and the days your enrollment was terminated are deducted.

To count without guessing, the official portal has an option called EPS Registration History Inquiry, It is described as follows: "Check your current EPS (Health Promoting Entity), affiliation dates, and changes in your health history." That is the actual date from which the count begins.

What is the difference between transferring your EPS (Health Promoting Entity) and mobility?

These are two separate procedures, and confusing them will ruin your trip. transfer It's changing entities. mobility, According to article 2.1.7.7, it is to change regimes while staying in the same EPS authorized to operate in both.

Therefore, it is advisable to read literally what the portal publishes: the procedure is for "the change of Health Promoting Entity – EPS, under the same regime»If what changed was your situation (you got a job, your contract ended, you were transferred to the Sisbén social welfare program), the first thing to report is your mobility, which also prevails Regarding the transfer according to article 2.1.7.14.

In what cases are you not required to provide the 360 days?

Article 2.1.7.3 lists eleven exceptions. These are the ones that most frequently appear in the families we support, along with the specific needs of each one.

Preparation of Hepacom based on article 2.1.7.3 of Decree 780 of 2016 (Single Regulatory Decree of the Health and Social Protection Sector), consulted in the Public Function normative manager.

Look at the fourth row, which is the one that raises the most hopes and the one that falls apart the most. Switching because "this EPS doesn't give me appointments" doesn't allow you to transfer on your own: points 4 and 5 require prior authorization from the National Superintendency of Health, and the paragraph gives that entity a term of no more than one month from the date you file the application.

How do you transfer your EPS (Health Promoting Entity) step by step?

Registration is done through the Transactional Affiliation System, which for you is the Citizen Portal of My Social Security:

1. Register on the portal. The site warns that you will go through an identity verification process by answering questions, and that your username and password will be sent to the email address you register.
2. Check your registration history and count the days.
3. Enter the transfer option and verify the conditions of article 2.1.7.2: no one from the group interned in an IPS and, if you contribute as independent, be up to date with contributions.
4. I enrolled the entire family unit. That's number 5 and it doesn't allow anyone to be left out.
5. If you are an employee, notify your employer. The decree requires the employee to report the change and the employer to check which EPS (Health Promoting Entity) the employee is registered with.

Something that saves time: article 2.1.7.6 says that the transfer no requirement You need to bring back the documents you already submitted when you registered your household. If they ask for them again, it's not right.

Since when has the new EPS (Health Promoting Entity) been providing you with care?

Here's the calendar trap. The application can be registered any day of the month, as stated in section 1. But article 2.1.7.4 separates two scenarios:

• If you register within the first five days of the month, the transfer takes effect on the first calendar day of the the following month.
• If you register after day 5, It takes effect on the first calendar day of the month. subsequent.

Translated: Requesting a 6 instead of a 5 leaves you with your old EPS (Health Promoting Entity) for an extra month. Meanwhile, you're not left in limbo, because the EPS you're leaving is responsible for services and financial benefits until the day before the new one takes over. And if someone in your household is hospitalized before the transfer takes effect, the coverage remains in place. is suspended one more month.

Common mistakes that cause you to lose your transfer

• Reset account When you went from being a beneficiary to a contributor in the same EPS (Health Promoting Entity). Paragraph 1 says that those days are added together.
• Register the application after the 5th believing he'd come in the following month. He comes in a month later.
• Requesting a transfer due to poor service and being left waiting. This cause does not operate alone: it requires the prior pronouncement of the Superintendency of Health.

Frequently asked questions about EPS transfers

Do I lose the weeks I've contributed to if I change my EPS (health insurance provider)?
No. The weeks are credited to the system, not the entity. What changes is who provides the services. If you want to see your registered affiliations, you can check them in the RUAF.

Can I move alone and leave my family where they are?
No. Item 5 of article 2.1.7.2 requires that the entire family unit be registered in the transfer application.

How do I know which EPS (Health Promoting Entity) I am with today?
It is a separate procedure that we explain in the EPS consultation at ADRES. If the old name of the system confuses you, take a look What happened to Fosyga?.

Does the transfer of EPS have any cost?
No. It's a free process that you complete yourself on the official website. No one is authorized to charge you for it.

I'm on the subsidized healthcare plan, does it apply the same way?
The period begins from the date of registration of the head of household. The conditions for belonging to this system are explained in the subsidized health insurance system, and depend on your ranking in the Sisbén.

How Hepacom accompanies you

The Hechos Para la Comunidad Foundation works for the right of Colombian families to a decent housing, And that right doesn't stand alone: families who finally move to their own property often discover that their health insurance provider (EPS) doesn't have a network where they now live. This move is precisely one of the exceptions that exempts you from the 360-day waiting period. If you're in this situation, write to us at donaciones@hepacom.org or visit our website contactWe provide free guidance and tell you which entity each claim corresponds to.

The official sources for this procedure are the Citizen Portal of My Social Security, where the novelty is recorded, and the text of the Decree 780 of 2016 in the Public Service regulatory manager.

Last updated: August 2026.

Information guide. The procedure is handled by the official entity. Verify through the official channel. Hepacom does not charge or process payments.