Opinion – Maria Inês Dolci: Amil will change owners, and consumer loses sleep

Institutional insecurity, economic mismanagement, persistent recession, high inflation and unemployment are making Brazil toxic for large international companies. Now, UHG (UnitedHealth Group), owner of Amil – one of the largest in health plans – would also be stamping his passport on the way. This will lead to more concentration in the health insurance market and in the hospital segment, as one of the branches of UHG in the country is a network of hospitals and medical clinics.

This voluntary exile is added to those of Ford, Audi and Mercedes-Benz (automakers); Sony (televisions, camera and audio); Roche and Eli Lilly (drugs); Fnac (books and electronic products); Nikon (optics and imaging); Nike (sporting goods), among many others.

In the health plan market, the situation is delicate, because Brazilians value the card to have access to consultations, exams and hospitalizations. And this appreciation has increased a lot due to the coronavirus pandemic. But not everyone has access to this object of desire: elderly people, for example, have to pay thousands of reais to hire private health care.

With unemployment in the double digits, millions are left without this employer-paid benefit. Collective plans (business or membership) represent more than 80% of coverage. In total, 48 million Brazilians have health insurance.

How are Amil users? The more than 300 thousand of the deficit portfolio of individual plans were transferred to APS (Personalized Health Care), which would have been capitalized by the UHG with R$ 3 billion. Users complain that there were cuts in the assistance network, even before being transferred to PHC. Amil’s total portfolio has almost 6 million lives.

ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency), Ministries of Health, Justice and Economy should manifest. The estimate is that Amil (operator, hospitals and clinics) is worth up to R$ 20 billion. This deal will redesign the health sector in the country. Therefore, CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) will have the final word on the business.

One last observation: even if there is a promise to keep the plan in APS, experience shows that, over time, consumers lose network quality and coverage. In a word, the ANS.