Fluxos de caixa livres e endividamento em operadoras de planos de saúde

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the effect of free cash flows (FCF) on the indebtedness of Brazilian health plan operators, between the years 2010 and 2018. In this sense, it was analyzed the public economic-financial data of these operators which were collected from the National Supplementary Health Agency. The research can be classified as descriptive and quantitative and the data analysis was fulfilled through regression analysis with panel data. The results of the study show that the variables bankruptcy risk, cash flow, growth, profitability and profitability are determinant in the capital structures of organizations. On the other hand, the variable tax shields not originated from debt was not significant in the estimated models. The research hypothesis that the higher the health plan operators’ indebtedness, the lower the FCF level was confirmed. The results show that the level of these cash flows of the organization affects negatively its indebtedness, minimizing agency conflicts. The main limitation of this research is the lack of data that did not allow a conclusion with all the proposed models. The limited and non-probabilistic sample is also noteworthy, which makes it impossible to generalize the results. However, despite the limitations, the research findings contribute to the understanding of the disciplinary nature of debts in the organizations surveyed, and the relevance of the study on the theory of free cash flows is highlighted, considering the scarcity of research on the topic considering the Brazilian market.