The law regulating health plans is 24 years old | SEGS

The organization is responsible for ensuring the rights of beneficiaries in Brazil

On Friday, June 3, 2022, the National Agency for Complementary Health (ANS) celebrates the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Medicaid No. Created in 1998, and in force since January 1999, this set of rules marked an important turning point for the sector, as it was responsible for ensuring basic conditions for complementary health beneficiaries.

Thus, through Law No. 9656 and subsequent regulations issued by the Agency, it was possible to define service obligations for users of health plans, ensuring the protection of consumer rights and limiting potentially abusive practices by operators.

“Today is the day to celebrate the enactment of Law No. 9656, a historic milestone for the complementary health sector in the country, which guarantees important rights to beneficiaries of health care plans. Paolo Rebelo, CEO of ANS, emphasized that this is a key point for the stability of this market that today serves more than 49 million Brazilians.

Among the main highlights of Law No. 9656/1998 is the mandatory coverage of plans; Guarantee of hospitalization, without time limit; Compulsory coverage that prevents the exclusion of any disease; Establishing concepts of urgency and contingency, maximum grace period, risk selection impediment, modalities application modalities, operator operation, financial guarantees, irregularities, and SUS reimbursement, among other rules.

It is worth noting that since its inception, the complementary health sector in Brazil has grown significantly, currently responsible for serving 49.1 million beneficiaries with a healthcare plan and 29.4 million with exclusive dental plans. Check the latest sector data: https://www.ans.gov.br/images/stories/Materiais_para_pesquisa/Perfil_setor/sala-de-situacao.html.

To learn more about the rules that make up Law No. 9.656 / 1998, interested parties can access the entire regulation by clicking here: Law No. 9.656 / 1998: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url= http %3A% 2F%2Fwww.planalto.gov.br%2Fccivil_03%2FLeis%2FL9656.htm&data=05%7C01%7Cjose.gonzalez%40ans.gov.br%7Ceb5803017a1a4afb340408da458bcd18%7C9dba480c4fa742f4bba30fb1375fbe5f%7C0%7C0%7C637898764219525918%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0% 3D٪ 7C3000٪ 7C %7C %7C & sdata = %2FQfleu1ZijWiTPFx0X3K86JF41KJ5A8M306GLuaj %2Frc%3D & Reserved = 0.