Government slashes surgery reimbursements, leaving patients vulnerable

Patient risk assessment room in a hospital in Londrina, Paraná. Photo: Isaac Fontana/Shutterstock

On December 30, João Damásio Neto, 79, was admitted to a private teaching hospital in the São Paulo city of Sorocaba to treat a calcified heart valve. Two weeks later, he still has no idea when he will receive emergency surgery. A Sorocaba city councilor later launched a campaign requesting blood donations for Mr. Damásio Neto, but without surgery his heart could stop at any moment.

Mr. Damásio Neto’s treatment delays can be chalked up to a government ordinance issued on December 21, decreasing the reimbursement of private and philanthropic hospitals that absorb demand from Brazil’s public health system.

Created by the 1988 Constitution, the so-called Unified Health System (SUS) is free to anyone in Brazil, providing everything from simple emergency care to complex procedures such as organ transplants. A recent study shows that almost 90...

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020