In the second half of this year, health insurance has been in high demand for insurers, but at the same time not nearly the most cost-effective way, the head of the Latvian Insurers’ Association (LAA) Jānis Abāšins tells the portal “Delfi”.
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In the three quarters of this year, the amount of premiums written in health insurance reached 82.4 million euros, which is 5.5% more than in the previous year, and this type of insurance accounts for 20.2% of the total amounts of written premiums. Claims paid in the amount of EUR 50.28 million were paid during the three quarters, which is 1.4% less than a year ago and represents 20% of the total market volumes.
However, Abashin emphasizes that the 1.4% drop in claims is an indicator of the “average temperature” in the hospital, and health insurance is currently undergoing very active processes, which need to be looked at in more detail on a monthly basis.
The demand for policies is constantly growing, taking into account several factors: the unavailability of public health care (difficult access, long waiting), the growing popularity of health insurance policies as part of the reimbursement system, the aging of the population,
On the remuneration side, two opposite trends can be observed this year.
“In the first wave of Covid-19 and the ‘stay at home’ situation, reimbursement costs fell sharply due to very limited access to health care. a 22% drop in claims and 49% in May.
Since August, the amount of reimbursements has risen sharply, as people have not only visited doctors as usual, but also tried to recover the postponed and overdue in the spring. Accordingly, claims paid increased by 13% in August and by 24% in September.
At the same time, the prices of health services are rising due to the shortage of doctors, queues and the long-delayed rise in prices in the regions (outside Riga).
“Accordingly, health insurance is currently in high demand by insurers, but at the same time not by far the most cost-effective way,” emphasizes Abashin.
Health insurance policies can be purchased both by companies for their employees and by people themselves. LAA data show that at the end of August there were more than 1,200 private health insurance policies in Latvia, and such a service is offered by three insurance companies. It is a small part of the overall health insurance market, but, he said, interest in private health insurance is gradually growing and there is room for growth on both the demand and supply side. According to insurers, the average buyer of a private health insurance policy is a woman aged 40-45. It should be reminded that the payment of natural persons for the health insurance policy in Latvia is considered as eligible expenses, and for this amount you can get back the overpaid personal income tax from the state, emphasizes Abāšins.
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