Debate on Private Health Insurance Explosive Growth in Norway: Minister Vestre Grilled and Advised

In Thursday’s “Debate” on NRK, the topic of private health insurance is discussed.

There has been explosive growth in private health insurance in Norway. Today, more than 800,000 people in Norway have private health insurance, while 20 years ago the number was less than 100,000.

Grilled about former private insurance

Last week it became known Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) was to take over as the new health ministerafter Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) had to resign as a result of being caught cheating on her master’s thesis.

On Monday, TV 2 could tell the Minister of Health Vestre reached an agreement on private health insurance for its employees when he was general manager of the family company.

Gunnar Stavrum: Jan Christian Vestre has nothing to be ashamed of

– Should people do as you say, or as you say? asked Fredrik Solvang.

– People have to make the choices they believe are right in life. Then we need to make sure that the welfare state works. I have no intention of swimming a whip, replied Vestre.

– I am the Minister of Health and Care and I work for our joint health service. In fact, I stand for the policy that both my party and the government follow, he continued.

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Advise Vestre

– The biggest challenge in the future is to ensure that we have enough professionals in the health care system. There won’t be more professionals if we make more privacy. There will be the same number of people who can do the job. We must not think that privatization in itself contributes to better capacity or lower waiting times, said Vestre.

Mariann Hussein, deputy director of SV, said that fewer Norwegians would like to have health insurance.

– We would like to be apart of the fact that so many Norwegians had health insurance, because it is a sign that people are not sure that they will get the necessary health care when they need it. They don’t trust our welfare state. Therefore, we have to deal with this, said Hussein, who said that the pandemic also has something to do with how things look now.

Storting representative Tone Trøen (H) believes that people must be allowed to buy help.

– But I wish we could get rid of it, because I think we should have a public health service that is able to deliver quick health services to people who need it. I believe the most important thing we can do is reduce the waiting time, because then you increase people’s trust.

Trøen then gave Vestre some advice.

– I have some hard advice for the new health minister, because this needs to be dealt with In terms of the Labor Party watch, there are now 250,000 people in the health care queue. In the last two years, the queue has increased by 35,000. Last time SV was in government, private health insurance purchases increased by 400%. This means that we must have parties that are able to reduce the waiting times as we have done.

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Long health care queues

The long health queues were a key topic raised during the debate.

– We must give priority in the public sector, and that priority must also include the right wing and say something about what they want, instead of pretending that we can only bake a bigger cake, said SV-Hussein.

– The biggest challenge is 250,000 people who are waiting for health care that is really necessary – health care that they receive priority in our health system. Therefore, we have to make sure that they get help quickly, Høyre-Trøen said.

Vestre replied to Trøen that we must not frighten people.

– Last year there were 2.1 million treatments in our hospitals. Everyone in Norway who needs emergency help and is seriously ill will receive it. We shouldn’t scare people!

– Then we will reduce the waiting times. Then we have to work with private companies as well, but it has to be publicly funded, publicly managed, publicly prioritized. Then we ensure equality for everyone in Norway. He deserves our welfare state, he added.