Healthcare in São Paulo for expats

How healthcare in São Paulo works

The SUS, Brazil's public healthcare system, is free for legal residents. Private hospitals and clinics are paid through a health plan or out of pocket, and residents can use both.

Brazil's 1988 Constitution makes health a right of everyone, with universal and equal access. It also lets private companies provide care, and private institutions can take part in the SUS on a complementary basis, by contract or agreement.¹

In the city, SUS care starts at the basic health units (UBS), which numbered 479 in August 2025. Walk-in AMA clinics, UPA emergency units, municipal emergency rooms and municipal hospitals take urgent cases, and SAMU answers 192.^{13 14 40}

Private care runs through plans regulated by ANS, the national health plan agency. In August 2026, 5,981,129 city residents held a medical plan, and 78.7% of them got it through a company plan. Weigh the plan on offer when you compare jobs in São Paulo.¹⁷

UBS

The neighborhood clinic where you register for SUS care

Plano de saúde

A private health plan

Carência

The waiting period before a new plan covers a service

Coparticipação

A copay charged each time you use the plan

Reembolso

Repayment of a bill from a doctor outside the plan's network

Enfermaria or apartamento

A ward room or a private room for hospital stays

Farmácia de plantão

The pharmacy on duty in the rotating night and holiday schedule

Can foreigners use SUS?

Yes. Legal residents can register for an SUS card and use public care for free. Any foreign national can get emergency treatment in a public hospital.

Brazil's Migration Law (13.445/2017) guarantees migrants public health services without discrimination by nationality or migration status. It defines visitors on short stays separately, so whether they share that guarantee is open to interpretation.²

While your residence card (CRNM) is pending, the Polícia Federal protocol gives the same rights, including public health care, for up to 180 days. The steps to get that card are in Brazil visas and residency.⁸

How to get a Cartão SUS in São Paulo

1. 1

   Get a CPF

   The tax number is free online or at Receita Federal, and R$7 (about US$1.40) at partner outlets such as Correios. In 2023 the city said the CPF is replacing the SUS card number in its health systems.

2. 2

   Register at a UBS

   Take photo ID, such as your CRNM, and proof of address to a UBS. Ask staff to add your CPF and nationality to your record.

3. 3

   Book through Agenda Fácil

   Book and cancel appointments in the city's Agenda Fácil app with your SUS card number or CPF. The city's 2022 guide limits primary care slots to your reference UBS.

Sources 5 9 10 11 12

Basic health units (UBS)

479

August 2025

Public pharmacies

680

Inside UBS, August 2025

Mental health centers (CAPS)

103

46 open 24 hours, June 2026

Sources 13 15

Best private hospitals in São Paulo

There's no official ranking of the best hospitals in São Paulo. The table uses two checks you can verify, Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation and the U.S. Consulate's provider list.

On October 8, 2026, JCI listed 76 accredited organizations in Brazil, 56 of them under its hospital program.³⁹

Hospital Albert Einstein, Sírio-Libanês and Oswaldo Cruz

• Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein is at Av. Albert Einstein 627/701 in Morumbi. The consulate lists its main line as +55 11 2151-1233 and its ambulance and air ambulance line as +55 11 2151-5000.
• Hospital Sírio-Libanês is at Rua Dona Adma Jafet 91 in Bela Vista, with units in Itaim and Jardins. International patients call +55 11 3394-5520, and an English-language page explains the service. JCI added its primary care program in August 2025.
• Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz is at Rua Treze de Maio 1815.
• HCor is at Rua Desembargador Eliseu Guilherme 147 in Paraíso, on +55 11 3053-6611.

Sources 39 41 42

Other accredited hospitals include Samaritano Paulista, Santa Catarina Paulista, Santa Paula, Alvorada Moema, Sepaco and the ICESP cancer institute. Rede D'Or's São Luiz Itaim, Anália Franco and Vila Nova Star are listed too. The main BP Paulista hospital and Hospital das Clínicas don't appear in the directory. To live near one of them, compare areas in our São Paulo neighborhood guide.³⁹

Giving birth in São Paulo

Pro Matre Paulista, Santa Joana and Maternidade São Luiz Star are JCI-accredited maternity hospitals. The U.S. Consulate lists Santa Catarina, São Luiz Itaim and Pro Matre.^{39 41}

A new plan can impose a waiting period of up to 300 days for a full-term birth, and not every plan covers obstetrics. Prevent Senior's 1025 plans don't, while NotreDame Intermédica's Nosso Plano SP Sul does.^{18 24}

Without cover, Santa Joana, Pro Matre and Rede D'Or sell self-pay birth packages, and none publishes a price. Santa Joana's covers up to 3 nights in a private room with a companion and the pediatrician's fees. Pro Matre's is sold from week 16 to week 36 and excludes the obstetrician's and anesthetist's fees. Rede D'Or's is normally bought between the fourth month and week 34.^{44 45 46}

For children, Sabará Hospital Infantil and the GRAACC pediatric cancer hospital are JCI-accredited. Schools and family budgets are in moving to São Paulo with kids.³⁹

English-speaking doctors in São Paulo

No official list confirms which doctors speak English. The U.S. Consulate's São Paulo provider list is the usual starting point, but almost none of its entries state languages.

The June 2025 list names 7 general hospitals, an Einstein emergency unit in Ibirapuera and 3 maternity hospitals. The UK's facility list names institutions only and doesn't mention English.^{6 41}

Sírio-Libanês has an English-language international patient page and a line for those patients on +55 11 3394-5520. U.S. citizens can call the consulate's 24-hour line on +55 11 3250-5000 for help finding care.^{40 41 42}

Therapists who speak English

The consulate's list includes 7 psychiatrists and 7 psychology or learning specialists in the city, again mostly without languages. ANS removed the yearly caps on psychotherapy sessions for health plans in August 2022. CAPS staff and the CVV helpline are unlikely to speak English, so the UK government suggests UK-based lines such as Samaritans.^{7 31 41}

Health insurance in Brazil for expats

A Brazilian health plan (plano de saúde) is individual, association or company, and the type decides who can buy it and how its price rises. Confirm terms with the insurer or a licensed broker before you sign.

• Individual or family plans have open enrollment, and the operator can cancel only for fraud or non-payment. ANS caps their yearly increase.
• Association plans (adesão) need membership in a professional association, council or union.
• Company plans (empresarial) come through an employer. A sole business owner, usually an MEI, can buy one after 6 months of registration.

Sources 21 22 23 27

Individual plans are scarce. Only 169 of the 4,684 active plans priced for São Paulo city in June 2026 were individual. Amil, Bradesco Saúde, SulAmérica, Porto Seguro, Alice and Omint priced none, while NotreDame Intermédica and Prevent Senior did. UK government guidance notes that residents can also buy cover from Brazilian or international insurers.^{5 18 19}

Private health insurance cost in São Paulo

Each plan files a reference price with ANS for every age band. Insurers may sell within 30% of it either way, and never below the estimated cost of care. Dollars on this page use R$4.99 per US dollar, the Banco Central PTAX rate for October 7, 2026.^{20 65}

Our São Paulo cost of living guide budgets R$570 to R$910 (US$114 to US$182) a month for one adult's plan bought without an employer. For a full household budget with a plan included, see living in São Paulo on $2,500 a month.¹⁸

Waiting periods and pre-existing conditions

ANS caps waiting periods (carência) at 24 hours for urgent and emergency care, 300 days for a full-term birth and 180 days for everything else. Company plans with 30 or more members must waive them for people who join within 30 days of the contract or of starting work.²⁴

For a declared pre-existing condition, the insurer can suspend related surgery, ICU beds and high-complexity care for up to 24 months. It can offer a surcharge instead. Once waiting periods end, the plan must offer an in-network GP appointment within 7 business days and other specialists within 14.^{25 28}

Reimbursement and switching plans

Plans with free choice of provider repay bills from doctors outside the network up to the contract limit, and never below the network rate. Operators generally pay within 30 days of the request. After 2 years in a plan, portability lets you move to a compatible plan without new waiting periods. The wait is 3 years if the plan imposed pre-existing condition limits.^{29 30}

Age bands and rules after 60

• For plans signed after January 1, 2004, prices rise by age across 10 bands, the last starting at 59. The 59-plus price can't exceed six times the 0 to 18 price.
• No one can be refused a plan because of age, and the Statute of Older Persons bans age-based pricing from 60.
• Customers over 60 with more than 10 years in the same plan can't face age-based increases.
• ANS capped yearly increases for individual plans at 5.11% for May 2026 to April 2027.

Sources 26 27 33 34

Plans may exclude medicines taken at home, except oral cancer treatment, and care homes for older people. Retiree visas and pensions are covered in retiring in São Paulo.^{32 33}

Insurance for visas and US retirees

Brazil's retiree and digital nomad visas require health insurance valid in Brazil when you apply at a consulate. Neither rule sets a minimum cover or names an approved insurer. Nomads can find the rest of the setup in remote work from São Paulo.^{35 36}

Hospital costs in São Paulo without insurance

Sírio-Libanês publishes self-pay package prices, which show what surgery costs at a top private hospital before doctors' fees.

Doctor visits and check-ups without insurance

Most of Amor Saúde's 26 city clinics are in outer districts such as Itaquera, Grajaú and Campo Limpo. It also has clinics in Pinheiros and Tatuapé.⁴⁸

What a dentist costs in São Paulo

Public dental care is free. In May 2026 the city listed dental care at 440 UBS with 888 oral-health teams. UPA Vergueiro in Liberdade treats dental emergencies 24 hours a day.¹²

Private dentists set their own prices, and no official price list or list of English-speaking dentists is published. Ask for a written quote before treatment. Dr. Consulta's subscription with dental costs R$39.80 (US$8) a month, and 4.4 million city residents held a dental-only plan in August 2026.^{17 49}

Sesc's dental clinics treat only commerce, services and tourism workers and their dependents with a Credencial Plena. For tight budgets, see living in São Paulo on $1,500 a month.⁵²

Pharmacies and prescriptions

Some medicines are free through SUS, and prescription rules change when you don't have a CPF.

Finding a 24-hour pharmacy

Federal law makes pharmacies run a rotating duty system, the plantão, so the community always has service. Each pharmacy must have a pharmacist present during all opening hours.^{53 54}

Free medicines

In August 2025, the city's 680 UBS pharmacies filled prescriptions from public and private doctors. The Remédio na Hora tool in the city's e-SaúdeSP app shows whether a medicine is in stock at these pharmacies.^{13 16}

The federal Farmácia Popular program gives free medicines for hypertension, diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol and more. Its list, updated August 31, 2026, includes metformin, insulin, losartan, simvastatin and several contraceptives. Collect them at accredited pharmacies with photo ID, a CPF and a valid prescription.^{56 57}

Prescription rules for foreigners

• Antibiotics and GLP-1 drugs need a prescription the pharmacy keeps, and that prescription doesn't need your CPF or passport number.
• For controlled drugs without a CPF, your passport number works, but you need a paper prescription.
• Pharmacies may refuse prescriptions not written in Portuguese. The UK government advises carrying a prescription or doctor's letter and enough medicine for your whole trip.

Sources 3 7 55

Emergencies in São Paulo

Call 192 for a SAMU ambulance. In a medical emergency, any foreign national can be treated in a public hospital.

• 192 for SAMU ambulances
• 193 for fire and rescue
• 190 for police, and 911 also works
• 188 for CVV suicide prevention, in Portuguese
• 180 for the women's helpline

Sources 4 7 40

Private hospitals require proof of funds or insurance. Einstein's ER is on +55 11 2151-0200, and Sírio-Libanês's is at Rua Barata Ribeiro 90, on +55 11 3394-0200.^{3 41 42}

The city's walk-in AMA clinics and UPA emergency units also take urgent cases. In a mental health crisis, CAPS centers take walk-ins with no appointment or referral. Crime risks and precautions are covered in is São Paulo safe?^{14 15}

Vaccines and dengue in São Paulo

Brazil doesn't require a yellow fever vaccine for entry. The CDC recommends yellow fever vaccination from 9 months of age for São Paulo state, including the city.

Vaccines for Brazil

• Yellow fever. Given at any UBS at least 10 days before travel, and one dose protects for life. Brazil's international vaccination certificate (CIVP) is now valid for life. People 60 and over get the vaccine only in high-risk situations.
• MMR and hepatitis A. The CDC recommends MMR for all travelers and hepatitis A for the unvaccinated.
• Chikungunya. The CDC says it may be considered for stays of about 6 months or more.
• Children. Routine childhood vaccines are free at SUS health units. The dengue vaccine is given at age 10 in 2 doses 3 months apart, with catch-up to age 14.

Sources 58 59 60 64

For private vaccines, the consulate's list notes that Einstein's vaccine clinic in Morumbi takes walk-ins, and it also lists the private clinics CEDIPI and IMUNE.⁴¹

The CDC reports no malaria in the city, and São Paulo has had no locally acquired yellow fever cases from 2019 through 2026.^{58 61}

Dengue in São Paulo

Brazil's dengue season runs from October to May. City cases concentrate from March to May and usually peak in April. For the rest of the seasonal picture, see São Paulo weather by month.^{62 63}

The same bulletin counts 29 locally acquired and 11 imported chikungunya cases in 2026 through October 2, with no deaths.⁶³

Add your CPF, plan card, vaccine records and hospital shortlist to your São Paulo moving checklist.