This study analyzes home care in supplementary health programs from the right-to-health perspective. A qualitative case study was conducted in four health operationsoperators in the municipality of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State. Empirical data was collected via interviews with health operators and health providers offering home care services. The results were discussed according to three analytical criteria: provision of home care and challenges to the universal right to health; supplementary health relationship with the public health system and with families; and judicialization as a way of protecting the right to home care in supplementary health programs. Home care deregulation in supplementary health programs was exposed as a challenge to the right to health because this service provision is underhealth operators' control. These operators develop ways to avoid judicialization, such as providing home care services as an undisclosed benefit. The service disruption caused by the private operators' unilateral decisions and the transfer of responsibility to the public health system and families affronts the user's right to care that addresses specific health conditions. In conclusion, home care in supplementary health programs is permeated by tensions that highlight the need for urgent regulation.
Home Care; Government Regulation; Prepaid Health Plans
