Health insurance: advantages or new risks?

Recently the issue of introducing a new health insurance system has been under active discussion. The government speaks about the need to transition to universal health insurance as a solution to ensure both access to medical care and the financial sustainability of the system.

“Top News” spoke with Babken Pipoyan, president of the “Informed and Protected Consumer” NGO, on the topic of health insurance. According to Babken Pipoyan, it is still too early to assess what advantages the new system of health insurance will bring. In his view, it will be possible to speak about that once it is implemented in practice and it becomes clear to what extent the promises made today are actually fulfilled.

Pipoyan also spoke about the possible risks. In his observation, the problem is linked to the philosophy of the healthcare system. According to Pipoyan, what we currently have is a system focused on treating illness rather than on healthcare. He believes that the task of the healthcare system should be the prevention of diseases, the preservation of health. And in the process of introducing insurance, the problems of hospital care will be solved.

On the contrary, the expert notes that “the overwhelming majority of programs in the entire healthcare system (including in the structure of the budget) are aimed not at healthcare, but at treating illness.” This is particularly problematic when compared with our neighboring countries, we have a more expensive healthcare system. “Starting from medicines and ending with the treatment process itself, we clearly see that we have an expensive system,” Pipoyan believes, comparing the situation with neighboring Georgia.

According to Pipoyan, the biggest issue is that the state must first direct its resources toward making the healthcare system itself less expensive and only then proceed to purchasing services, including through insurance. In his words, without these fundamental steps, the introduction of an insurance system may fail to deliver the expected results.