Podcast: health plans and autism care – 01/09/2024 – Podcasts

It’s been a while since the private health system has seen a knot tighten. The plans say that the account will no longer close and the losses have made companies demand service restrictions. Customer complaints – which were no longer few – are increasing and patients are sometimes left without assistance. Most of the complaints today come from patients on the autism spectrum – today private healthcare serves around 500,000 people with this condition.

The plans state that, currently, treatments related to these conditions are those that generate the most expenses for the plans. Therapies surpassed cancer treatments, an area that traditionally represented the main share of bills, according to operators. The comparison is criticized by families and associations of patients on the autism spectrum.

Before regulatory changes approved by the ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency) in 2021, these expenses did not reach 2% of companies’ medical costs; today it is 9%. The regulatory body expanded coverage. The plans articulate a proposal to change the list of approved procedures and restrict available therapies.

This Tuesday’s episode (9) of Café da Manhã explains the situation of autistic people who rely on private care, discusses how regulatory changes have impacted health plan business and analyzes what elements this debate adds to the crisis in the sector supplementary healthcare. The podcast interviews Joana Cunha, reporter for Sheet.

The audio program is published on Spotify, Folha’s partner streaming service in the initiative and which specializes in music, podcasts and video. You can listen to the episode by clicking above. To access the app, simply register for free.

Café da Manhã is published from Monday to Friday, always at the beginning of the day. The episode is presented by journalists Gabriela Mayer and Magê Flores, produced by Carolina Moraes, Laila Mouallem and Victor Lacombe. Sound editing is by Thomé Granemann and Laila Mouallem.