João: "The problem with healthcare in Brazil is not a lack of doctors."
According to the mayor of Aracaju, the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System) payment schedule for healthcare services has not been adjusted for ten years; "the reimbursement from the Ministry of Health for a laryngitis surgery, for example, is approximately R$ 70. But this same surgery actually costs more than R$ 500, and Aracaju is responsible for the payment, since we are responsible for Medium and High Complexity care. The way to greatly improve the situation of public health, including ending the queues in hospitals and emergency care units, is by adjusting the SUS payment schedule. We would have market-worthy values to pay the hospitals, which refuse to receive the amount stipulated by the SUS, which is a disgrace," he said.
Sergipe 247 - Mayor João Alves Filho (DEM) harshly criticized the Federal Government regarding the Unified Health System (SUS). Dissatisfied with the amount of funds transferred by the SUS to the municipality, the mayor stated that the federal administration provides incentives to companies through the IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products), which harms the finances of the municipalities. “We are experiencing something absurd in Brazil. I have never seen this situation in my entire public life. The municipalities are abandoned; we only have rhetoric. The Federal Government incentivizes new companies with the reduction of the IPI, which is a tax directed to the municipality. Because of this, there is a drop in the collection of the FPM (Municipal Participation Fund). Public health is a victim of this situation,” he affirmed.
According to him, the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System) payment schedule for healthcare services has not been adjusted for ten years. "The Ministry of Health's reimbursement for a laryngitis surgery, for example, is approximately R$ 70. But that same surgery actually costs more than R$ 500, and the payment is made by Aracaju, since we are responsible for MAC (Medium and High Complexity). The way to greatly improve the situation of public health, including ending the queues in hospitals and UPAs (Emergency Care Units), is by adjusting the SUS payment schedule. We would have market-worthy values to pay the hospitals, which refuse to receive the amount stipulated by the SUS, which is a disgrace," said the mayor, guaranteeing that the municipalities are being suffocated by this discrepancy.
According to João Alves, Aracaju is still responsible for serving 74 municipalities in Sergipe, as it is the city in charge of Medium and High Complexity procedures. “The amount that comes from the SUS is practically insignificant. Because of this, Aracaju is being forced to subsidize the other municipalities as well. The problem in Brazil is not the lack of doctors or hospitals. What we want is resources to keep the posts open and functioning. With this, the population will no longer be penalized by the enormous queues and lack of care,” he said, during the Integrated Agreed Programming Update Workshop (PPI), this Tuesday (30).