Actors influence in the definition of institutional logics: An examination of the private health plans’ expenses

Abstract

The definition of which expenses can be incurred in the private health field is an endeavor that involves a dispute between multiple logics. Private health operators in Brazil complain that medical expenses have increased during the last decade in Brazil, as do beneficiaries, who bear the fee readjustments that ensue. The study analyzed how the actors in the private health field influence the configuration of health care expenditures and the elements that interfere, identifying a model of institutional logic that best expresses these definitions in the field.
The research is explanatory using archival data and interviews with executives of the organizations in the field. The results showed that the logics compete in the field with a discourse in which each actor understands that the others are responsible for the increase in expenses,
and are against data disclosure and transparency to safeguard market competition. This case shows a coalition that is able to exercise its power to manipulate the readjustment of fees, because other actors will rather avoid confrontation in an alternative that does not solve the problem about the sector’s expenses, even with the acknowledgment that it is becoming unsustainable.