Judicialização no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde: um estudo descritivo sobre o custo das ações judiciais na saúde pública do município de Juiz de Fora

Abstract

The judicialization of health has provoked discussions on the intervention of the judiciary in governance and management of health policies. The Government has been obliged to ensure court procedures and health services regardless of coverage or incorporation by the Unified Health System, or when covered, without complying with the administrative skills of the local health officer in a decentralized and hierarchical public system. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct cost of individual actions under the SUS, especially the administrative powers of the municipal entity, taking the backdrop of the city of Juiz de Fora, MG. The sample consisted of 575 court cases (N = 575) who were admitted within six months. The lawsuits occurred to hospitalization assurance, supply of medicines and supplements and food supplements, as well as examinations and nursing supplies. It estimated the cost from the perspective of Juiz de Fora Health Department as manager of the SUS and purchaser of health services, totaling R$ 3,506,701.95 for the period studied, or a monthly cost of R$ 1,016.44. As to their responsibilities in offering such services in accordance with the organization of the Unified Health System, it was estimated that 90.26% of the cost of judicial requests for hospitalization corresponded to actions that were already under its jurisdiction, where the legalization came assure citizens services that should already be offered. While the judicial requests for medications that were not within its competence to provide or dispense represented 99.70% of the estimated cost for that category, including competence of drugs from another federal entity, not covered by SUS or disagree with the clinical protocols established for attested the disease. Finally, analyzing the major lawsuits against the municipal government, it can be stated that 75.28% of the estimated cost for the legalization referred the provision of services that were not the administrative jurisdiction of the Health Department of Judge off as municipal manager of the SUS. This fact raises a discussion of legalization on public health. On the one hand seeks to guarantee the constitutional right of citizens, on the other requires the municipal level the burden of cost without observing the common and private responsibilities of each federal entity in the organization of the Unified Health System.