ANS’s taxing list threatens treatments against cancer (and other diseases)

Treat the patient with cancer at the right time, with the right procedure. This premise is decisive to stop the evolution of the disease or to end it once and for all. In other words, we must offer each person diagnosed with cancer the exam, therapy and/or procedure that, scientifically proven, are the most effective for their case, without depriving them of a better quality of life and a chance of cure. Unfortunately this premise is threatened!

Last Wednesday (06/08), the STJ, the court responsible for standardizing the interpretation of federal law throughout the national territory, put two appeals associated with the List of Health Procedures and Events of the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS). On the one hand, those in favor of tax coverage, in which the plans are exempt from covering what is not expressly indicated in the ANS list. On the other hand, we, who are in favor of exemplary interpretationwhich advocates that the Role is the minimum that should be offered to the patient, but that other procedures, when indicated, should also be covered.

The victory of the overwhelming Rol, by six votes to three, is a defeat for the health of the country. It puts the patient’s access to important advances in science at risk, making it impossible for them to fully enjoy personalized medicine. That is, to have full access to the surgical technique, radiotherapy or systemic treatment (chemotherapy, target therapy, immunotherapy, etc.) scientifically established and in protocol by the medical and multidisciplinary team.

Aware of this importance, we at the Brazilian Society of Oncological Surgery (SBCO) joined seven other societies in the oncological care line, in an open letter, for a non-restricted Role, preserving the right of those affected by cancer.

In order to measure the impact of the decision with the understanding prior to the vote, the rejection of any procedure recommended by a doctor could characterize abusive conduct by health plan operators, even if it was not provided for in the insurance contract and in the ANS list. What prevailed was to assure the patient all the care necessary for his recovery.

This interpretation left the door open for dialogue, inside or outside the justice system. But now that door has become, at best, a mere crack.

The taxing list is a major obstacle for patients, even with scientific evidence and medical reports in hand, to gain access to procedures required in court. An impact, by the way, that is not restricted to cancer, but to all diseases that demand high-cost treatments not included in the always outdated list of the ANS.

+ Also read: After all, what is the cure for cancer?

To justify the exemplifying interpretation of Rol as a way of “preserving the financial health of the system” is to take the side of the strongest in this relationship, and not of those who are at the mercy of an aggravation to their health. May the doors of Justice remain open to all who are threatened with curtailment of their basic rights.

*Héber Salvador is an oncologic surgeon and president of the Brazilian Society of Oncologic Surgery (SBCO).