Aécio Amado
Repórter da Agência Brasil

Rio – A recent survey by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) has found that health plan costs have become a burden for the Brazilian elderly. According to FGV, for those more than 60 years of age, those costs represented more than half of the total 5.05% increase in the cost of living for that age group in 2005.

Public utility bills (water, electricity, etc.), which are government-controlled in Brazil, represented approximately 30% of the increase in expenses for the senior citizen in 2005.

The FGV has a special, separate index, the IPC-31, which measures inflation for those over 60 years of age. The IPC-31 rose sharply at the end of last year, up 1.54% in the fourth quarter, compared to a negative variation in the third quarter. It was pushed upward by health plan costs, food, housing and transportation.

Translation: Allen Bennett