In Argentina, more than 3.9 million people access prepaid medical services through their contributions to social security. Some prepaid medical companies froze the March fee as a result of the contribution triangulation operation.
On the other hand, about 2.4 million direct affiliates to prepaid plans saw their monthly fee increase between 1.9% and 2.7%, depending on the plans. This adjustment did not apply to deregulated workers, but to those with individual and direct contracts, without contribution referrals.
In the case of the increases, companies such as OSDE, Swiss Medical, Galeno, Medifé, OMINT, and Medicus decided to freeze the fee as a strategy to retain affiliates whose contributions were derived from wages by employers to unions.
The end of the contribution triangulation has a direct impact on what social security or unions receive from prepaid affiliates, especially with the decrease from 7.2% to 7.65% of formal payrolls. Private medical companies will have to assume both administrative and service parts, which could change the way health services are shared with social security.
On the other hand, there are uncertainties about the protective resources presented by several social security entities in court to try to stop the resolution. Omar López Mato, a member of CAMEOF, suggests that health management companies be more transparent regarding their finances and expenses to generate trust among affiliates.
In terms of the affiliates, López Mato highlights the importance of understanding how much is contributed throughout life to receive adequate medical attention in case of illness or accident and points out that the relationship should be based on trust and transparency of health companies.
