Q1 At least in theory, any center-left government should be more preoccupied by the issues of better social protection. A better pensions system is one big chunk of that, but so are health insurance services. Is there any new development that you see on these fronts and if so, what are they? Do they exist at all? Are they good news or bad news?
The X-ray of current health insurance landscape ticks the lack of utilities, poor hospital conditions, aging infrastructure, migration of health personnel and the overall sentiment of uncertainty. No doubt, there are also exceptions of outstanding medical performance but mostly, there are counteracted by unfortunate situations of malpraxis or different other serious errors. Solving the issues of public health system should start with defining, interpretation and regulation of the current legal framework. There is an urgent need for a health law that should primarily define the basic medical services package, standardize the system and also deliver the right conditions for private companies to invest and run their businesses properly. There were several attempts of drafting a health law expected currently to be submitted to public debate.
Q2. Do you expect any incentives at all in your industry in the months to come? What are the immediate concerns regarding the future of Romania’s insurance market and how do you see them being tackled?
We act in a constantly growing field; however, the market cannot be called mature due to the law penetration level of health insurances. In Romania, the penetration rate is still far below the EU countries’average. This market will continue to be impacted by the evolution of the economy and, regarding the market trends, the companies will search continually to consolidate their earned market share. Still, the odds are different in terms of ratio between life insurance policies and general insurance policies. In this segment, the potential growth is significant. We estimate a growth of private health insurances and investment and saving products, due to the on-going health system reform. The key to increase on this segment lays in educating the public regarding the upsides of financial planning, family security and long term saving. A helping hand would be granted also by fiscal incentives.
Q3. What do you make of the establishment of a sole financial supervision authority that shall monitor the insurance, capital market and pension funds altogether? Is it going to help your business, and, most importantly, is it going to help the society and economy?
It is a commendable endeavour of joining the regulatory authorities under the same umbrella, as it would be a cost-saving measure and would result in diminishing the bureaucracy and align to European standards. Besides, as Romanian Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA) does it, we consider the new authority to offer a real support for the insurance market.
