More than half of workers in Latvia have health insurance, which has become an almost mandatory benefit offered by employers, Jānis Abašins, head of the Latvian Insurers Association (LAA) and the Latvian Motor Insurance Bureau (LTAB), told LETA in an interview.

He said that there are about 800,000–900,000 employees in Latvia, of whom around 500,000 have health insurance. Moreover, this number is steadily increasing. Abašins acknowledged that there may be overlaps when a person works two jobs and receives a health insurance policy from each employer, but such cases are relatively few.

The head of the association added that the impact of the austerity measures recently launched in the country remains to be seen. It is possible that municipalities or public institutions will reduce the extent of insurance they provide to employees. “On the other hand, they also need to retain good employees, and people are now carefully assessing what benefits their employer is offering them,” Abašins said.

Asked whether, given Latvia’s rather stagnant economy, employers are likely to purchase health insurance policies with broader coverage for employees in the near future, Abašins explained that for now there is more of a wait-and-see attitude, as economic growth is hovering around zero to one percent.

He noted that some industries can afford the additional spending, while others are cutting costs, and this difference is clearly felt.

“So, on the one hand, there is no reason to expect a sharp increase in health insurance. On the other hand, it is also unlikely that public health financing will grow significantly in the near future, since other priorities are currently set,” said the head of the association.

According to Abašins, this means that queues for state-funded medical services will not become shorter, which in turn will increase demand for services paid for by insurers. However, this potential growth is likely to be limited by people’s ability to pay. Therefore, demand will probably increase, but only slightly.

Source: BNS

(Reproduction of BNS information in mass media and other websites without written consent of BNS is prohibited)