Government approves plan for health insurance
Deputy finance minister Dr Maung Maung Thein has unveiled plans for health insurance beginning on July 1.
The annual premiums will be set at K50,000 from all private insurance companies and Myanma Insurance, with people able to purchase up to five units each at K50,000 a unit. People between six and 65 will be eligible.
“People can buy health insurance at Myanma Insurance or at private companies,” he said. “We will allow them to buy the insurance after making them read about the benefits of buying insurance as well as the cases not covered by the insurance.”
Dr Maung Maung Thein added that not all applications for health insurance will be accepted.
The plans also lay out compensation. For each separate unit of insurance purchased, K15,000 will be paid a day for the cost of medical treatment. When a patient is in hospital, this amount will be paid for up to a month. If the insured patient dies, K1 million will be paid as compensation with the plan.
Myanma Insurance managing director U Aye Min Thein said that if a person purchases five units of insurance, they can receive coverage for up to 150 days, or five times the 30-day period of hospitilisation.
“People can buy health insurance from us or from private insurers starting on July 1,” he said. “As there are 12 insurance companies, there is no monopoly.”
It will also be possible to buy the insurance through agents. Authorised agents receive a 10 percent commission from insurers, so buyers do not need to pay any separate fee other than the premium.
The current setup is to be a trial for one year. The annual premium is currently set at K50,000 a unit, but will be fixed in a year’s time, with more variation likely introduced.
The plan to put together health insurance has been some time in coming. It had included consultations officials from Myanma Insurance, the the Ministry of Health, Myanmar Medical Association, and private and foreign insurance professionals.
Dr Maung Maung Thein said it is also important that people are honest when they fill out the insurance paperwork.
U Aye Min Thein said there are 17 specific incidents in which insurance money will not be paid out, including health issues rising from pregnancy, mental health, dental care apart from accidents, surgery for eye damage, hearing aids and insurance after committing a crime.
Other events such as death due to war or to an existing case of HIV/AIDS will also not receive compensation.
Insurance buyers will also not be able to take back their premiums they have already paid if they decide to cancel their insurance.
Dr Maung Maung Thein said no country to date has 100pc success with their health insurance systems.
He also said that expenditure on health does not necessarily lead to a better system. The United States spends 17.4pc of its GDP on healthcare, but its system is surpassed by others.
“Britain’s [health insurance] is more successful than the USA though it spends less than America,” he said. “Britain’s [health] insurance sectors stands at the top of the world’s list. Even in the US, where its health insurance system has been practised for a century, it hasn’t made good progress – though President Obama has focused on it.”
Myanmar had previously planned health insurance, but the service faced delays, said Dr Maung Maung Thein. He added there are other forms of compensation medical treatment, including from the social security board under the Ministry of Labour.
– Translation by Thiri Min Htun
(Quote from Myanmar times online website on 17 June 2015)