Amil pays R$ 3 billion to get rid of individual health plans, says newspaper

Amil asked the ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency) to transfer its portfolio of individual plans to another company. In other words: the company, specialized in health plans, controlled by the American UnitedHealth, is getting rid of a part of its individual plans, a loss-making category, according to leaf.

According to Valor Econômico newspaper, Amil will pay R$ 3 billion for financial restructuring company Fiord Capital to keep its client portfolio.

ANS is analyzing the transfer proposal. Wanted by the report, Amil and Fiord declined to comment on the matter.

According to Valor, Amil will pay this figure for Fiord Capital to assume an extremely loss-making portfolio, with around 370 thousand users in São Paulo, Rio Janeiro and Paraná. The deal also involves four Amil hospitals in São Paulo and Curitiba, which are the most used by these beneficiaries. Amil will continue to provide services to these customers through its own accredited networks of hospitals and physicians.

In the individual plans category, ANS limits the percentage of monthly fee readjustments. This year, for example, the agency indicated a negative adjustment of 8.2%, that is, individual plans had to lower prices.

“How can an operator be interested in a market like this?”, José Cechin, superintendent of the IESS (Institute for Supplementary Health Studies) told the article in October. “Health care costs grew more than inflation and, instead of passing it on to the consumer, the plan lowers the monthly fee.”

In the case of corporate collective health plans, which constitute the majority in Brazil (68%), the ANS only monitors the adjustments, which are negotiated directly between the operator and the company or union. In these cases, the health plan is offered as a benefit to those who are employed.

Another 13% of health plans in the country are collective by adhesion, contracted through unions and associations. Only 19% are individual or family – most plans are not interested in this category precisely because the readjustment is dictated by the ANS.