Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
12/03/2014
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Booklet warns that these types of services do not guarantee the same benefits and rights existing in health insurance because they are not regulated
THE DAY
Rio - The announcement is attractive: by installments of only R$ 18.90 per month, you can have access to medical consultations and examinations of particular health service. To the unsuspecting consumer, may seem an inexpensive opportunity to replace the health plan. But this type of service is a risk when the user needs to do more complex treatments and examinations.
Tuesday, the National Health Agency (ANS) launched a booklet that explains the difference in relation to health plans. The prepaid and discount cards services look like a health insurance, but are not. It works as follows: the contractor receives a card and, upon payment of a monthly fee, you can make inquiries and examinations in private schools, with lower prices than the prices charged normally.
Before the consultation, the client does recharge card, just as happens in cellular telephony. Health Valley, for example, offers consultations to R$ 63 and discounted exams. In addition to the monthly price and consultation, the client pays a fee of R $ 2.50 at the time of recharge.
On the internet, company announces prepaid cards to baixosFoto prices: Disclosure
The NSA clarifies that these services are not regulated by the agency, so the customer will not have the same rights as a user of health plans. If he needs to be admitted to hospital or to make a more complicated test, for example, the cards do not offer coverage.
"All the advances that society has with the rules of the plans are not guaranteed in this service. The plans have updated coverage list from time to time. These cards have financial limit. If you have disease that needs an expensive treatment, coverage ends, "explains Rafael Vineyards, general manager of Structure and Operation of ANS products.
He also warns that managed care plans are not allowed to sell cards and should be denounced, if this occurs. "Operators can not have any involvement in the sale of these cards," says Vines.
Compare between planos Foto: Art Day
Simulation made by Protest, defense of consumer rights organization, shows that cheap can be expensive if the user of the cards need more complex services. An account made for a 35 year old patient, for example, you need three consultations and endoscopic examination showed that the prepaid card, the bill later this month leaves for R$ 535.48. If the procedures were covered by insurance, the value would be R$ 341.87 (56%).
Source: The Day - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.