Thursday, May 20 2010 17:09
More and more people welcome compulsory medical insurance
ArmInfo. Compulsory medical insurance system is very timely for Armenia, but it cannot be introduced because of large shadow economy, Garik Martirosyan, Director of Surb Mariam Medical Center, told media on Thursday.
He said that reforms in the healthcare system must launch simultaneously state subsidizing and medical insurance, compulsory and voluntary. "Such combination is successfully practiced in many countries and protects population interests. One should not forget that insurance companies are commercial organizations. In fact, insurers often resort to various methods to evade payment of medical expenses of clients," Martirosyan said.
For his part, Vilen Hakobyan, Academician and Secretary of the Armenian National Academy of Science, offered focusing on accessibility of medical services. "Armenia lacks culture of health protection. Most people do not apply for medical assistance to the bitter end. There are no annual preventive medical examinations. Most of us cannot afford medical services. In fact, death rate is growing and diseases emerge at younger age," Hakobyan said. He highlighted the importance of compulsory medical insurance as an effective instrument to settle the medical assistance accessibility to the public, technical equipment of medical establishments and other problems.
The insurance sector in Armenia is at the stage of development and the voluntary medical insurance is making the first steps mostly thanks to corporate clients. Seven out of ten insurance companies in Armenia are engaged in voluntary medial insurance. The share of medical insurance in total insurance lines is 10%- 15%.
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