Healthcare Ministry: To develop medical insurance in Armenia,  practice of informal agreements between insurers and medical  institutions should be stopped

ArmInfo.  To develop compulsory  health insurance in Armenia, it is necessary to put an end to  informal agreements between insurers and medical institutions,  Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan stated at a meeting with  representatives of local insurance companies.

According to him, it is necessary to improve the quality of service  within the social package. One of the main tasks is to expand the  range of insurance and sharply increase the number of insurers. This  goal can be achieved through the formation of an efficiently  operating and at the same time affordable system. "In this regard,  the main issue on our agenda should be the increase of people's trust  by taking steps to identify and eliminate shortcomings, which in turn  will reduce the number of complaints received from them," stressed  Torosyan.  During the meeting, the insurers touched upon the issues  they are interested in, in particular, the possibility of introducing  insurance against medical malpractice.  Torosyan assured the  representatives of insurance companies that any issue related to the  field will be submitted by the Ministry for discussion.

To note, starting from October 1, 2017, the gradual introduction of  compulsory medical insurance launched in Armenia, which started with  a social package for civil servants - about 100 thousand  beneficiaries, funded by the Ministry of Health through state funds.  At the second stage, from the second half of 2018 the social package  covered the most unsecured segments of the population - 612,000 RA  citizens. Only a year later, with positive results of these two  stages, compulsory medical insurance will fully work in Armenia,  covering all the remaining working citizens of the country.   According to Ranking of insurance companies of Armenia prepared by  ArmInfo as of July 30, 2018, medical insurance occupies the second  position in total premiums of insurance companies - 35.2% or 7.7  billion drams (over $ 16 million), with y-o-y growth 2.1-fold. Loss  ratio of health insurance in the average market increased in the  y-o-y terms from 41.7% to 42.5%. All six insurance companies  operating in Armenia are involved in the health insurance segment.  INGO Armenia, Rosgosstrakh Armenia and Nairi Insurance are in the  TOP-3 in this class, accounting for a total of 5.9 bln drams ($ 12.3  mln) or about 77% of total medical insurance premiums.