Ingo Armenia: government-proposed compulsory health insurance scheme is ineffective
02.04.2019,
16:40
The Armenian government-proposed compulsory health insurance scheme is ineffective and will be a waste of time for Armenian citizens, CEO of INGO ARMENIA insurance company Arevshat Meliksetyan said in an interview with ARKA.
YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. The Armenian government-proposed compulsory health insurance scheme is ineffective and will be a waste of time for Armenian citizens, CEO of INGO ARMENIA insurance company Arevshat Meliksetyan said in an interview with ARKA.
According to Meliksetyan, the Ministry of Health is discussing now this scheme without insurance companies. He explained that the proposed scheme implies that it is the government that will deal with insurance of citizens' health.
“There are various options of compulsory health insurance in the world. There is a model in which the government is directly involved in health insurance of its citizens, and there is an option when it is dealt with through intermediaries, i.e. insurance companies. But the experience not only of post-Soviet, but also western countries shows that the government is a poor manager,” said Meliksetyan.
In his opinion, the proposed scheme cannot even be half as effective as it is portrayed in the concept, since the human factor plays a huge role.
"The government-proposed model will only lead to a waste of time of our citizens. The scheme will be introduced, it will start working, and in a couple of years it will become clear that it is ineffective. There must be a conflict of interest for the system to work effectively,' he said.
Meliksetyan argued that it is insurance companies that demand that medical institutions ensure high quality services for their clients.
“And when the insurer, the policy holder, and even medical institutions, which are supposed to provide services, are government-owned, there will be no conflict of interests. Even in those countries which are cited by the ministry as an example, health insurance schemes did not start immediately working effectively,” said Meliksetyan.
Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said that the country is shifting to comprehensive health insurance system in 2021. According to him, the key principles of the ongoing reform are the guarantee of social justice in the health sector and the unification of services provided. -0-
According to Meliksetyan, the Ministry of Health is discussing now this scheme without insurance companies. He explained that the proposed scheme implies that it is the government that will deal with insurance of citizens' health.
“There are various options of compulsory health insurance in the world. There is a model in which the government is directly involved in health insurance of its citizens, and there is an option when it is dealt with through intermediaries, i.e. insurance companies. But the experience not only of post-Soviet, but also western countries shows that the government is a poor manager,” said Meliksetyan.
In his opinion, the proposed scheme cannot even be half as effective as it is portrayed in the concept, since the human factor plays a huge role.
"The government-proposed model will only lead to a waste of time of our citizens. The scheme will be introduced, it will start working, and in a couple of years it will become clear that it is ineffective. There must be a conflict of interest for the system to work effectively,' he said.
Meliksetyan argued that it is insurance companies that demand that medical institutions ensure high quality services for their clients.
“And when the insurer, the policy holder, and even medical institutions, which are supposed to provide services, are government-owned, there will be no conflict of interests. Even in those countries which are cited by the ministry as an example, health insurance schemes did not start immediately working effectively,” said Meliksetyan.
Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said that the country is shifting to comprehensive health insurance system in 2021. According to him, the key principles of the ongoing reform are the guarantee of social justice in the health sector and the unification of services provided. -0-
