Private Health Insurance on the Rise: IMQ Leads the Way in the Basque Country

The pandemic has given new priority to everything related to health. Proof of this is that in the last sociometer published by the Basque Government in February of this year, health was the second concern of citizens, only behind the problems related to the labor market. The population demands an adapted, solid healthcare system with resources that provide the best possible care to patients, in which private healthcare plays a significant role as a complement to the public system due to its contribution to improving accessibility, quality, technological development and sustainability of the global health system.

In fact, the number of people in the Basque Country who bet on private medical insurance is increasing. If in 2001 the percentage of the Basque population that had this type of insurance was, according to Eustat data, 14.17%, in 2021 it had grown nine points, reaching 23.03%, and it has continued to increase since then, Among other reasons, due to the perception that it provides added advantages that are increasingly appreciated, such as the agility in access to consultations, diagnostic tests, treatments and hospitalization. In Spain there are already 12 million people who have private healthcare, while in Euskadi it reaches 504,762 Basques.

By historical territories, having private health insurance is more common in Bizkaia, with 30.4% of the insured population, followed by Araba/Álava, with 17.9% and Gipuzkoa, with 13.6%. By age groups, the population between 45 and 64 years is the largest, with 168,829 insured people, followed by the population group corresponding to 24 and 44 years, with 139,308 people.

The sector has been growing continuously in the last decade, although in recent years it has accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2015, the contracting of private health insurance in the Basque Country has grown at a two-year rate of between 4.7% and 6.9%. Between 2016 and 2021 the volume of premiums increased by 2.5% and between 2019 and 2021, 6.5%, with an upward expectation due to the aging of the population and the greater citizen demand for immediacy and care.

IMQ, leading insurance company in Euskadi

Regarding the preferences of Basque society, most of them trust their private medical insurance to IMQ, the leading company in the Basque Country and sixth in the country, which currently provides assistance coverage to more than 385,000 people and more than a thousand companies. All this with freedom of choice between the largest private medical team in the Basque Country and the largest network of clinics and own centers.

IMQ increased its care activity in 2022 in polyclinic centers, dental clinics, rehabilitation centers, podiatry clinics, sports medicine units, mental health and emergencies. Between outpatient and hospital, for example, last year it attended more than 122,456 emergencies, with 13,447 admissions and 44,811 hospital stays, 15,453 surgical interventions, in addition to 249,165 consultations with specialists in its polyconsulting centers, 153,679 in its dental clinics in Bizkaia, Álava and Gipuzkoa o 17,669 in its rehabilitation centers, in addition to the many others carried out by its other specialized centers for psychiatry and psychology, sports medicine, podiatry, etc.

IMQ maintains, at the same time, a historic commitment to primary care, this being a differential characteristic of its care model compared to other existing private health insurances. It also has residences and day centers for the elderly, clinical services and occupational risk prevention, where it is also a leader.

On a global level, IMQ also contributes to sustaining the Basque public health system, saving it, thanks to the assistance it provides, more than 250 million euros per year.