2015 research on supplemental health in Brazil led to conclusions that proved to be prescient
The sector of supplementary healthcare he’s in trouble and it’s not from today. On the one hand, companies that offer plans to their employees face huge price hikes. Paradoxically, floor operators face growing deficits.
It wasn’t for lack of notice. The economic equation of the sector, essential for families’ access to private health services, is not balanced.
Our proposal in 2015 was to create a reform agenda on three fronts: (i) increase market transparency; (ii) alignment of incentives for the various operators in the sector; and (iii) promotion of competition, facilitating the exchange of offers and the entry of new operators.
Eight years later, what we are witnessing is a journey in the opposite direction. For example, in 2022, law 14.454 expanded the compulsory coverage of the plans, requiring procedures and treatments that are not included in the basic reference list of the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS).
The scenario in 2023 is worrying, with a large operator announcing its exit from the sector and others with huge losses. Large groups sell real estate and renegotiate debts. The accident rate has increased. Operators are finding it increasingly difficult to pass on the higher costs to policyholders.
Insolvency of health plans has serious consequences. Institutions are directly affected, with the risk of layoffs and a decline in income generation and collection. Even more serious, the contraction of the sector would reduce the population’s access to private health services, generating greater pressure on the public system.
We just have to repeat the conclusion of 2015: the complexity of the health sector and its importance for society make the search for a better functioning of the supply chain imperative. Policies that fail to address current structural problems tend to exacerbate challenges, propagate distortions and doom the sector. / ERNESTO GUEDES AND ERIC BRASIL ARE, RESPECTIVELY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER MEMBER; DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND PARTNER OF TENDÊNCIAS CONSULTORIA
Source: Terra
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