The Ministry of Health has authorized an increase in the quotas of prepaid affiliates: it is in 8% from May 1, another 10% from June 1 and 4% from July 1. Then, there will be two monthly increases based on a new index to be prepared by the Superintendence of Health Services.

The increases are “general, complementary and aggregated to those approved for the month of April 2022” according to the draft Resolution to be published in the Official Gazette. This indicates an increase of 23.55% for the May-July period.

For its part, prepaid and Social Works should increase the fees they pay to Clinics, Sanatoriums, private Hospitals and health professionalsd “for the months of May, June and July 2022, at least 90% of the percentage increase in their income through prepaid medical fees or joint union negotiations, for each period considered,” said the Ministerial Resolution.

On the same weekend, if the Resolution is to be published tomorrow in the Official Gazette, or at the latest on Monday, Prepaid affiliates will receive communication on these increases.

Based on these quota increases, there is a discount that the sector will sign on joint agreement of health workers, a condition demanded by employers to sign parity that includes 300,000 workers. The increase requested by the union (FATSA) is 45% – divided by 25% in April, 20% in July, and a revision in August based on inflation levels.

This year, As of April, prepaid installments rose 22.5%: 9% from January, 6% from March 1 and another 6% from 1% in April, also combined. If these 3 new increases are added in July, the accumulated number is 51.3%.

With these new values, and according to the family composition and scope of the plan, fees will vary from $ 20,000 to $ 60,000 per month. An average plan is around $ 35,000.

It is estimated that there is prepaid 5.5 million beneficiaries (owner and family group), where 1.5 million are volunteers and the rest are from shifting social activities.

In recent months, many affiliates have switched to lower cost plans or disenrolled from the private system.

A new Resolution is that the Superintendency of Health Services shall prepare “a Health Cost Index which includes the evolution of human resources items, medicines, medical supplies, other supplies and overall costs important for the sector, within thirty days. Such index shall be calculated every two months, on the last day of the months of January, March, May, July, September and November, and published by the Superintendency of Health Services.

Based on the variability of this index, the Resolution authorizes the granting of a bimonthly increase in the value of the quotas of Prepaid Medicine Entities registered with the National Registry of Prepaid Medicine Entities (RNEMP). Such increases shall have as a maximum limit on the variability of the Health Cost Index defined in the previous article ”.

In this regard, considering this index, “the proportion to which the Prepaid Medicine Entity and the Health Insurance Agents must increase the reimbursement amounts of medical assistance benefits provided to their beneficiaries, users and users is will be established by the registered provider… .in accordance with the evolution of the Health Cost Index over the past two months. ”

In part, a few days ago, the Ministry of Labor extended REPRO, the official assistance or subsidy for the payment of salaries, for employers in the Health Sector, by Resolution No. 448/2022.