Few Romanians own private health insurance, more are uninsured

Despite the growing popularity and the increasing number of private medical facilities in Romania, private health insurance still has a low coverage in Romania. Only 2% of Romanians have a private health insurance while a similar ratio have a subscription to a private clinic, partially or fully paid by the company they work for. A recent GfK survey also shows that almost 4% of Romanians are medically uninsured. Most Romanians, namely 93%, are included in the public health system, for which they contribute monthly via the mandatory medical insurance. Based on regions, 5% of Bucharest residents own a private health insurance, above the national average while 3.5% have a subscription to a private clinic. 2% of them also included spouses or children in the subscriptions for private services. Health insurance numbers are the worst for Romanians who live in the Dobrogea, Muntenia and Moldova regions: 13% of Dobrogea residents and almost 6% of those living in Muntenia and Moldova are uninsured. The most vulnerable age group is 18-34: 16% of them don't have any insurance. Maintaining proper oral and body hygiene (75%), positive thinking and optimistic approach to life (35%) and a diet based on fresh, natural products (27%) are among Romanians’ main healthy habits. On the other hand, over half of Romanians don’t take vitamins or food supplements. A quarter of them place regular exercise and moderate consumption of alcohol and cigarettes at the bottom of their list of healthy habits. GfK Romania conducted the study on a sample of 1,000 people aged over 15. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com