Romanians increasingly interested in health insurance, survey shows

Voluntary health insurance has been one of the most sought-after insurance policies in 2022, with nearly 40% of Romanians saying that they are interested, according to a recent survey.

Voluntary health insurance policies were top of the list in terms of popularity in the UNSAR-IRES survey titled Risk perception and insurance culture in Romania. Health insurance was followed by home insurance policies and travel insurance.

The survey also revealed that Romanian consumers are willing to forego social health insurance and pay extra in order to have quick access to higher-quality medical services. The number of those willing to pay extra for such services, irrespective of the type, increased by an average of 3% relative to last year.

Surgical procedures (79%), recovery (77%), and hospitalization (76%) are the top three services for which Romanians are willing to pay more. Lab analyses, outpatient services, medical imaging, as well as dental, pediatric, and emergency services are also on the list.

Roughly 43% of respondents to the survey said they would access medical services in a public hospital through voluntary health insurance, covering the costs of services for which the state doesn't provide relief.

"Voluntary health insurance is a concrete and quick solution to facilitate the access that Romanians have to certain categories of medical services,” said Alexandru Ciuncan, General Director of UNSAIR. “This type of policy insurance relieves the public system of a number of expenses with medical services and contributes to the protection of families in the event of financial imbalances caused by diseases or accidents,” he added.

While costs may vary according to the type of insurance and the age of the insured person, voluntary health insurance can be around RON 300 (EUR 60) per month and cover RON 100,000 (EUR 20,000).

The survey was carried out in May 2022 among 1,000 respondents aged 18 to 50, using the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) method.

The National Union of Insurance Societies in Romania (UNSAR) is the industry’s lobby group. Its members represent approximately 90% of the local insurance market. The Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) is an independent think tank and market research company.

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