The establishment of private health insurance funds would create a 10 million-client market for insurers, double the market of private pensions.
The reformation of the public healthcare system by introducing private funds, as happened in the pension system, is the next big business opportunity for insurance companies, as the potential of this market stands at 600-700 million euros and about 10 million clients, says Theodor Alexandrescu, general manager of AIG Life, the second-largest company on the life insurance market.
Health Minister Ion Bazac told ZF in an interview at the beginning of the year that he was considering the introduction of a system that resembles the pillar II in the pension system (mandatory private pensions), with the deadline he provided being set for the end of this year or 2010. Of all the countries in the region, such systems are already operational in Slovakia and Czech Republic.
"The state currently says it pays for everything, but this is not true, because it does not provide all the services, and their quality is poor. The only solution is to have the insured client voluntarily pay the cost of such services in cash or via a health insurance policy. The cost of medical service is high, so not everybody can afford it. Healthcare reform is a big opportunity, this market may reach as much as 600-700 million euros," Alexandrescu says.
The introduction of pillar II in the healthcare system would mean that part of the social security contributions that go to the health insurance (CASS) paid by employees and employers should be transferred to private health insurance funds, managed by insurers.
"Medical services are an immediate social need. Whereas you have to wait twenty years to see the result of the reform of private pensions, here you reap the benefits right away, " AIG Life’s official says.
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