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Chamber Seeks To Ensure Fair Treatment For Those Over 60: New Bill Prohibits Discrimination Against The Elderly In Health Plans And Promises To Change The Statute Of The Elderly Throughout The Country
The Chamber of Deputies is analyzing a bill that could transform the way health plan operators treat the elderly in Brazil. The PL 262/2025, presented by Congressman Márcio Marinho (Republicanos–BA), proposes to amend Laws No. 9.656/1998 (Health Plan Law) and No. 9.961/2000 (which creates the ANS – National Agency for Supplementary Health), to prohibit discriminatory practices against the elderly in the hiring and maintenance of private health plans.
The text, currently in the Committee on the Defense of the Rights of the Elderly, aims to include new rules to combat abusive price increases, coverage denials, and access restrictions solely based on the beneficiary’s age — situations that, according to consumer protection agencies, have become increasingly frequent as the Brazilian population ages.
An Aging Country Still Facing Age Prejudice
Brazil currently has over 34 million people aged 60 or older, according to IBGE, and this number is expected to exceed 50 million by 2040. Despite the increase in longevity, many elderly individuals report difficulty in maintaining their health plans precisely when they need them the most.
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The main complaint is the rise in premiums upon reaching older age brackets. In some cases, increases exceed 100%, making it impossible to continue the contract. Congressman Márcio Marinho states that the aim of the bill is to “eliminate age prejudice disguised as technical adjustments” and “ensure that aging is not financially punished.”
The bill also proposes that the National Agency for Supplementary Health (ANS) is obligated to monitor and publish annual reports on the accessibility of plans for the elderly, in addition to applying sanctions to operators that fail to comply with equal treatment regulations.
What Changes With The Bill
The PL 262/2025 establishes three central changes in the legislation:
- Prohibition of any price increase based solely on age after age 60, guaranteeing predictability to the contractor;
- Obligation to maintain collective plans for retirees and those dismissed without cause who have contributed for at least 10 years, preventing automatic cancellations;
- Creation of a specific channel at ANS for reporting age discrimination and priority handling of complaints made by elderly beneficiaries.
These measures, according to the author, aim to rectify a historical imbalance in the relationship between consumers and operators, especially among the elderly, who have paid for decades and are excluded due to high costs when they start using the plan more frequently.
Health Plans Under Pressure
The initiative comes at a time of intense debate about the sector. The ANS recorded over 220,000 consumer complaints in 2024, with a large portion of them related to price increases and coverage denials.
With the aging population, operators claim that the rising medical costs require financial rebalancing, but Congress is now seeking to limit practices deemed abusive and increase contract transparency.
According to regulation specialist Francisco Barros, from the Consumer Defense Institute (Idec), “the bill correctly differentiates between technical increases and discriminatory increases. Adjusting for medical inflation is legitimate; penalizing the elderly simply for aging is illegal and immoral.”
Legal Protection and Reinforcement in The Statute of The Elderly
The proposal also foresees amendments to the Statute of The Elderly (Law 10.741/2003), reinforcing the right to equality in access to health services, both public and private. The idea is to integrate the topic into the national set of policies for the protection of the elderly and strengthen the oversight by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and state Procons.
With this, Brazil would follow the trend of countries like Canada and Portugal, which already have specific laws against age discrimination in the healthcare system. The bill’s rapporteur, Congresswoman Maria Rosas (Republicanos–SP), argues that the proposal is “a civilizational advance.”
“We cannot accept that age is a factor for exclusion. Those who contributed the most to the country should be the first to receive protection,” she stated.
Progress and Expectations
The PL 262/2025 will still be analyzed by the committees on Social Security and Family, Finance and Taxation, and Constitution and Justice (CCJ), before going to the floor. If approved, it must be regulated by the ANS within 180 days.
Parliamentarians expect the proposal to be voted on in 2025, with support from various parliamentary fronts connected to consumer protection and the elderly. For industry entities, the text represents an important step toward balancing a historically unequal relationship.
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