One of the main medicine companies prepaid, Medicusdecided freeze your fees for one year for new members after facing a significant loss of customers. The measure, announced in the middle of government complaints about alleged cartelization in the sectorcomes in a context of economic crisis and constant increases in health plans.
During 2024, Medicus lost about 25,000 membersan average of 20 people per dayleaving your wallet at approximately 200,000 users. To reverse this situation, the prepaid company launched a promotion that ensures new members a fixed fee for 12 months if they register between January 1 and March 31, 2025.
However, this advantage will not apply to current customerswho will continue to be subject to traditional monthly adjustments.
This unexpected measure seeks attract new affiliates in a highly competitive market. According to the prepaid rankingMedicus occupies the ninth placebehind giants like OSDE, Swiss Medical, Galeno and Omint, that concentrate more than 60% of the market with more than 4 million customers.
What did the rest of the prepaid companies decide?
Despite Medicus’ measure, The fees of most prepaid companies will continue to increase. For January 2025, an increase of between 3% and 3.9%depending on the plan and the company. These settings exceed general inflation againwhich in November 2024 was located in 2.4% according to the INDEC Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Sustaining the health system remains a critical issue. A survey of the Chamber of Medical Diagnostic Institutions (CADIME) revealed that, while the quotas of lPrepaid companies rose an average of 435% In the last two years, fees paid to health providers have only increased by 160% and 224%. This gap, combined with a health sector inflation of 583%, has generated tensions between prepaid companies and their providers.
However, the freezing of Medicus rates could force other companies in the sector to Reconsider your strategies to avoid losing affiliates. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 200,000 people abandoned prepaids, mainly due to constant increases and the inability to meet costs.
But the promotion of this prepaid includes certain limitations. Only applies to new members, and plans with copays do not freeze additional fees. In addition, factors such as changes in the age group, changes in the family group or the interruption ofDerived shipping could alter the value of the fixed fee.
Private health in Argentina
The deregulation of prices in the sector, promoted by the Government, has allowed prepaid adjust your rates freely from mid-2024. This caused significant monthly increases ranging from 6.7% and 30%depending on the month and the company.
Despite efforts to stop increases and guarantee the accessibility of the system, most companies continue to prioritize financial sustainability in an inflationary context. In response, members increasingly turned to social media to express their discontent and denounce abusive practices.
Prepaid ranking according to Miobrasocial
The site Myobrasocial rated the most outstanding prepaid companies in the country, giving the following scores:
Source: Ambito
