Wednesday, January 23 2019 14:36

ArmInfo. From 2021, a phased introduction of the compulsory health insurance system will begin in Armenia. On this, answering the question of ArmInfo, on January 23,  Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said at a press conference. At the  same time, Torosyan abstained from indicating the period when all  citizens of Armenia will become the beneficiaries of a comprehensive,  as the Minister called, medical insurance system.

According to the Minister, it is not yet clear, for example, how much  interest from the salary will be transferred to the specially created  Universal Health Insurance Fund. In world practice, this amount of  contributions ranges from 2 to 30% of the salary of a citizen. In  developed countries, this figure is 26%, in Eastern Europe - 2 -3%.  "We are inclined to start with small percentages so that it does not  become a big burden for the citizens," Torosyan said. At the same  time, as the Minister pointed out, it is wrong to call these  contributions a burden, since it is impossible not to notice the  expected benefits.  The head of the Ministry of Healthcare hopes that  within the next two years, all ambiguities in the implementation of  the compulsory health insurance (compulsory health insurance) will  disappear and the possibility of failure of the system will be  extremely minimized at the time of its implementation.

At the first stage, by including in the program registered citizens  and those who already today the state guaranteed the right to medical  insurance, the government will ensure approximately 50% involvement  of citizens in the system.  In the future, the government will also  think about the involvement of pensioners, children and non- working  citizens in the system. It is possible that the working member of the  family will have to pay for this category of citizens within the  framework of the principle of social justice. Then the monthly  contributions from the working citizen to the Universal Health  Insurance Fund will also increase. As Torosyan stated there are not  deadlines for the introduction of compulsory medical insurance.

The other day, live on his Facebook page, RA Minister of Healthcare  Arsen Torosyan informed that in 2021 insurance premiums will be  transferred monthly to the Universal Health Insurance Fund, which  will finance the insured events to the relevant medical facility.   "World experience shows that for countries like Armenia it is more  expedient to have a single body, because it groups and minimizes the  insurance risks of the population by different social groups and age  groups, reduces the size of insurance premiums, ensures the  transparency and efficiency of managing accumulated financial assets  reduces the administrative costs of the system, provides state  supervision over the sphere ", said A. Torosyan, explaining that the  experience of Estonia was taken as a basis.

The Minister stressed that the management of the Foundation will be  independent of the Ministry of Healthcare, but at the same time it  will be accountable directly to the government. The Board of the  Foundation will consist of representatives of the government of the  government, the mayoralty of Yerevan, regional administrations,  specialized medical associations, public organizations representing  the rights of patients, independent experts of the sphere.  To note,  since October 1, 2017, a phased introduction of the MMI started in  Armenia, starting from the social package for civil servants, is  about 100 thousand beneficiaries, funded by the Ministry of  Healthcare at the expense of state funds. For each participant of the  system 39 thousand drams are sent per year. At the second stage, from  the second half of 2018, the social package should cover the most  disadvantaged segments of the population - 612 thousand most needy  citizens of the Republic of Armenia, in the third all the other  citizens of the country.

According to the Ranking of insurance companies of Armenia as of  September 30, 2018, prepared by ArmInfo IC, health care insurance is  third in terms of the share of premiums in total premiums of  insurance companies - 29.9% or 9.1 billion drams (about $ 19 million,  including social package premiums) with an y- o-y growth of 88.5%.  The average unprofitableness of medical insurance in the market has  increased in y- o-y terms from 51.7% to 55.1%. All six insurance  companies operating in Armenia are involved in the medical insurance  segment. INGO Armenia, ROSGOSSTRAKH ARMENIA and Nairi Insurance,  which accounted for a total of 7.02 billion drams ($ 14.5 million) or  more than 77% of the total medical insurance fees, were fixed in the  TOP-3 according to this class.