Panel SA: ANS approves Prevent’s request to split debt with SUS in 60 installments

The ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency) responded this week to a request by Prevent Senior to pay 60 times more R$ 2.8 million owed to SUS for assistance provided to beneficiaries of the operator.

The installment of debts of this type can be requested by all health plan operators according to the agency’s rules, but it has bothered specialists since the beginning of the pandemic because it happens at a time of overload on the SUS.

In the market in general, there are more than BRL 1 billion in installments in progress and another BRL 741 million have already been paid, according to data collected by the ANS on the reimbursement of supplementary health to the SUS until September 30, without considering interest and fines.

In the specific case of Prevent Senior, there are more than R$80 million in installments in progress and another R$67 million have already been paid.

Sought by Panel SA, ANS claims that the installment model, even though it has been distributed over the years, is capable of speeding up reimbursement, as it is less costly than a judicial collection process, both for the SUS and for the operator.

“It is also a measure of financial management of health plan operators, which, based on the analysis of their reality, can determine when and which credits will be the object of request for payment in installments”, says the ANS in a note.

Prevent denies that the request for installment payment is linked to any type of financial difficulty arising from the image crisis suffered by the company in the wake of Covid’s CPI.

“Prevent Senior is one of the few operators that are even with their obligations with the SUS. The payment of debts in installments is a legal procedure. Prevent has economic solidity. Therefore, it has always paid its obligations on time”, says the company in a note .

with Mariana Grazini e Andressa Motter