O impacto financeiro da covid-19 em grandes operadoras de saúde: uma análise das duas maiores operadoras do ceará

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global health crisis that resulted in profound impacts across all sectors of the economy, affecting supply chains, altering consumption patterns, and imposing an unprecedented level of uncertainty. In Brazil, the supplementary health sector was directly impacted, initially facing the challenge of costs related to disease treatment, a significant increase in the value of equipment and supplies, and subsequently, a change in the pattern of service consumption. Similarly, the state of Ceará reflected the behavior seen in the national supplementary health scenario, where data shows pressure from uncertainty during the pandemic period, resulting in stability in the beneficiary portfolio, followed by an increase in the value of health services in the following years (2021-2024). In the Ceará scenario, the two largest health operators in the state act as important benchmarks of the state scenario, since together they hold approximately 72% of the region's market share. The analysis of the operational and financial results of the two operators in question reveals a significant and contrasting financial impact. Unimed Fortaleza faced a liquidity and operational profitability crisis, whose vulnerability to post-pandemic claims resulted in a drop in ROA and a collapse in current liquidity (below 1.0 in 2024). This deterioration was characteristic of a cost management crisis due to the high volume of demand caused by the return of pent-up demand in the post-pandemic period. In contrast, the Hapvida Group demonstrated greater operational resilience, controlling claims throughout the analyzed period (2019- 2024) and maintaining cash flow. However, the aggressive expansion strategy via debt resulting from mergers and acquisitions adopted by the Group led to a significant increase in its debt ratio and a drop in its overall liquidity (below 1.0 from 2023 onwards), signaling a solvency management alert for the operator. It is concluded that the financial impact of COVID-19 was present both at the beginning of the pandemic peak, where healthcare costs decreased due to pent-up demand, and in the post-peak period due to the shock of pent-up claims. This demonstrates the difficulties in cost control and financial management faced by these regional operators in the face of large-scale exogenous events.