Health budget deficit reached three billion lei

The deficit in the health system has reached about three billion lei this year, despite the amounts that the state is constantly pumping in this area, according to the representatives of insurance companies, who made a projection of the long-term consequences that the current system will have on the population and criticised the lack of legislation that should allow private insurance operation.

The statements were made at a conference on private insurers involved in the Romanian health system reform held on Tuesday.

According to the President of the the National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies from Romania, Rangam Bir, financially speaking the current system cannot be sustained anymore, because from 2008 and up until now a gap has been developing between expenditure and income deficit and by the end of the year it will amount to 2.5 - 3 billion lei.

In addition to this, following the current trend in 2050 the dependency ratio in the public health insurance system would be a payer to nine beneficiaries.

The participants in the meeting described the involvement of the private health insurance sector as being essential because it could bring, among others, expertise and efficiency in the management of the risk and resources in the pricing system of the health services and also in the relation with policy holders.

They took into account the alternative of implementing a system similar to the pension system, namely to direct a part of the contributions to the private health insurance system, but also the project proposed by the Minister of Health, namely to create a network of six local emergency hospitals through public private partnerships, hospitals that could ensure high standard services from investigation and diagnosis to treatment.

The participants also talked about reviewing the basic package of health services, following the fact that a list of services and products that surely will not be included in the basic package will be drawn up by the end.

Finally, the representatives of the Public Health Commission within the Presidential Administration also talked about a draft bill to drastically reform the current health insurance system.

It provides full redeployment of the social health insurance funds towards the private sector, the existence of several private health houses, which should compete one against the other, the possibility of transforming hospitals from public institutions into foundations or companies so as the National Health Insurance House could focus on the regulation and control of quality and accessibility of health services.

Translated by: Denisse-Meda Bucura
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University