2024-03-21 23:21:57
In the midst of the serious crisis facing the prepaid medicine system in Argentina, a recent report from the UAS (Argentine Health Unit) generated great concern in the sector. During the months of December to February, there was a significant decrease in the number of affiliates, who opted to drop your coverage in these prepaid medicine companies.
Private medicine serves approximately six million people in total. Of that number, two million are volunteers and four million are workers who belong to a social work administered by a prepaid medicine company. “Of the two million voluntary members, A 10% drop in headlines is estimated. Approximately 200 thousand owners who between December and January dropped out of the coverage of these companies,” he indicated. Mario Koltanpresident of Boreal Salud, the seventh prepaid medicine company in the country by number of members.
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It is in this mass exodus of enrollees that many return to “previous health systems,” either to social works or the public sector. “The public sector does not have the capacity to serve more of the population than it is already serving. They serve 33%-35% of the Argentine population. If I add this new portion, the situation will worsen,” explained Koltan.
My to my
The latest increases in rates for prepaid medicine services also caused concern among users.
“According to data from the UAS, the average (increase) was 40% in December; 30% in January; 20% in February and 19% in March. For April, from what I know, we are talking about 16%,” he added. .
And if that were not enough, the reference implied that there would be no cap set for future increases of prepaid medicines. “The only factor that will determine the ceiling will be the pocket capacity of the affiliates. Those who can’t take it anymore will fall. That is why many UAS representatives tell you that prepaid medicine will be for a segment of society.”
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What alternatives are prepaid companies looking for?
Given this scenario, how do prepaid medicine companies manage to retain their customers? For this, two possible paths are proposed: adopting a partial coverage plan and/or implementing bonuses on fee increases.
“There is an idea of moving towards partial coverage. Example: I cover you until the third cavity, you pay for the fourth. They are partial plans tailored to the user’s pocket, however, this is not current.
Currently, another strategy used is to grant bonuses on fee increases for members with lower consumption, mostly young people, since this is considerably lower than that of older users. The consumption of a person aged 18-25 is not the same as that of someone aged 55-65. “The concept of bonuses is applied to young people so that they stay because they are the ones who pay the fees and consume very little, with that they try finance the differences of what the elderly demand in terms of health.
Regardless of what, both social works and prepaid medicine companies are required to comply with a mandatory medical plan.
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The high price of medicines
Another no less important issue is to consider the costs than medications they have today. And the deregulation of the drug market has contributed significantly to the increase in health spending. As explained by the reference, three years ago, medicines represented 19% of the pie of health spending. The rest was distributed among professionals, sanatoriums, special treatments, etc. Currently, medications occupy the 40% of that budget.
“So, if I want to charge more and more, but the medications take 40% of the pie, I have to pay more and more fewer resources to provide more services quality to the population,” explained Koltan.
According to data from the Argentine Pharmaceutical Confederation, in the last two months, January and February, they were sold in pharmacies ten million units of medicines less. Although they have various coverages and discounts, it is not enough for the user to cover the difference in expenses.
“People have to choose to pay 20 thousand pesos for a medicine or use it for other issues. And this, although it may not seem like it, is a great trigger to evaluate the cost of health in Argentina“, concluded the reference.
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