The Federal Chamber of La Plata determined that the tariff hikes applied by the prepaid health insurance companies last year were unconstitutional and caused disruptions to millions of families. The amparo action presented against the prepaid companies YPF Obra Social and OSDE was accepted, declaring the unconstitutionality of two articles of DNU 70/23 and ordering the companies to limit increases according to the CPI index.
In this regard, the court expressed that it was necessary to harmonize individual and social rights, deciding that the prepaid companies should limit increases to the Consumer Price Index on a cumulative basis with respect to the last value of the fee set by the Enforcement Authority. The case was initiated by the amparo action of a member who requested to invalidate the increases in the prepaid fees and the reimbursement of undue charges.
The Chamber revoked the initial judgment that rejected the amparo action, indicating that the arbitrary deregulation of an essential service exceeded the powers provided in the National Constitution. They stated that the presidential decree could not eliminate the powers assigned by law to the Enforcement Authority.
The court also noted that the emergency of the health system was not sufficiently substantiated in the contested decree nor in the present case. Therefore, they ordered the Ministry of Health of the Nation to review and authorize the fee values proposed by the prepaid companies, revoking the increases set for January 2024.
The ruling recalled an agreement between the National State and the prepaid medical companies for the return of amounts charged above the CPI from December 2023 within the framework of another legal claim. Finally, the costs of the trial were imposed on the sued prepaid companies by judges Jorge Eduardo Di Lorenzo and César Álvarez.
