Risk sharing in Brazilian supplementary health

Abstract

Objectives: This paper discusses the recent impacts of technological advancement on the health market, the growing importance of increasing costs throughout its chain, and investigates an alternative to increasing the access of these new technologies to a greater number of people within supplementary health. In this context, the general objective proposed for this work was to highlight the views of health managers with a prominent role in Brazil regarding the use of risk-sharing models in different regions and in different payers in the system. It was intended to deepen the theme with the fulfillment of the following specific objectives, also from the perspective of the research participants: verify the use of these payment models and consequently determine the characteristics and necessary adaptations for them; identify the challenges for the consolidation of risk-sharing in Supplementary Health; to verify the impact of risk-sharing on health costs of operators based on interviewees’ perceptions. Methods: This is a qualitative study with in-depth interviews with main health managers and opinion makers from different institutions in Brazil, totaling 25 interviews. Content analysis was chosen as a method of interpretation and construction of categories for analysis. Results: The results were grouped into the following categories: the suggestions and adaptations suggested for the best operation in the Brazilian reality; criticisms and challenges to the proposed models. The results suggest that risk-sharing may be an alternative capable of promoting a new form of relationship between payers and the manufacturing industry, replacing the traditional remuneration model, which limits the linear relationship with all sectors, always seeking the objective of assisting the patient with new access alternatives. Conclusions: Amid the complexity of the Brazilian health system, it is important for players to evaluate new alternatives for remuneration and technological incorporation. The challenges are innumerable from the realization of the profile of eligible patients and the applicability of risk-sharing that occurs from the interest of both parties in bringing new technologies to the system, without significant budgetary impacts, as long as it is clinically and economically viable, generating health value, effectiveness, and outcomes in survival rates in real world evidences.