The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on May 23 announced a tender for voluntary medical insurance of employees with an expected cost of UAH 18.709m for the purchase of the service, according to the Prozorro e-procurement system.
Applications for participation are accepted until 12.00 on May 31.
Tender security 561,275 thousand UAH.
As reported, the winner of a similar tender for VHI announced by “Ukrnafta” on May 25, 2023 with the expected cost of procurement of services of 12.048 million UAH was SG “TAS” with a proposal of 10.819 million UAH, in connection with which July 7 with it was concluded a contract for VHI.
The Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine approved a roadmap for the introduction of health insurance by order of August 25, the ministry’s website reported on Monday.
According to the report, it is proposed to add a system of additional health insurance to the current system of financing healthcare in Ukraine at the expense of the state budget as a potential source of financial resources for the healthcare sector. This is because, due to the negative economic consequences of Russia’s large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, the available financial resources are insufficient to meet the needs of citizens for sufficient quantity and quality of medical services.
The main advantages of additional health insurance, according to the Ministry of Health, include expanded access to additional services, improved quality of treatment not covered by the medical guarantees program, faster access to specialist doctors, coverage of expensive medicines and treatments, or access to additional medical services.
The additional health insurance is expected to help reduce the burden on the state budget in the healthcare sector, increase the choice of healthcare providers, insurers and insurance packages, which promotes competition in the insurance market and improves the quality of services provided by insurers, and attract private capital that can support the development and modernization of healthcare facilities and infrastructure.
According to the order, important steps to increase the role of additional health insurance should include: a clear definition of medical services not covered by the medical guarantees program, as well as other cases in which medical services can be provided to patients at the expense of individuals and legal entities. To this end, the Ministry of Health, together with the expert community, will develop the necessary regulations to determine the cases in which additional health insurance can complement rather than duplicate the medical guarantees program.
In addition, the development of pharmaceutical insurance, which provides for reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of medicines and/or medical devices, is also envisaged. This type of insurance is intended to protect patients from high costs of medicines, especially in cases where expensive or long-term treatment outside the state guarantee program is required.
To address these challenges, the Ministry of Healthcare, together with associations of insurers, banking institutions and other interested organizations, will establish cooperation in the field of additional medical insurance of the population’s expenses related to the provision of medicines and medical devices. In particular, joint activities are planned to enhance communication and find ways to resolve problematic issues, including simplifying the mechanisms for introducing additional health insurance and raising public awareness through information campaigns.
Ukrnafta PJSC (Kyiv) on May 25 announced a tender for voluntary medical insurance of its employees, the electronic state procurement system Prozorro reports.
The expected cost of purchasing services amounts to UAH 12.048 mln.
According to the system, the last day for submission of tenders is June 2 at 12.00.
All appeals under voluntary medical insurance policies (VHI) are covered, except when the appeal is related to an injury directly related to war, hostilities, exposure to weapons, ammunition, according to the insurer’s website.
At the same time, it is emphasized that VHI agreements are valid only on the territory of Ukraine, therefore, in order to receive medical care abroad, clients are advised to purchase an insurance policy for travelers abroad.
According to the report, ARX medical assistance works as usual, around the clock. Its employees provide recommendations based on the terms of insurance contracts, organize assistance, visit a doctor, provide medicines, and teleconsultations.
“However, we ask clients to be understanding of possible delays in the organization of medical services, since the medical system, especially private clinics, is now also working in a situation of heavy workload and, in some cases, in a situation of staff shortages. In addition, in some regions, for security reasons or changing the profile, some of our partners have suspended the provision of services or limited certain services,” the message says.
In addition, the company has significantly expanded the opportunities for the insured to receive compensation in case of independent organization of medical services and their payment. The term for receiving compensation can reach 2-3 business days.
According to the report, in areas with active hostilities – Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Mariupol or with a difficult security situation – all partners of the company have suspended the provision of services due to a lack of staff on the ground and for security reasons.
All medical services in Western Ukraine, as well as Odessa, Dnipro are provided without restrictions on the basis of the company’s partners. There are difficulties with calling an ambulance, due to the heavy workload. Pharmacy chains limit the opening hours of pharmacies in accordance with curfew restrictions and in general.
In Kyiv, almost all partners of the company work as usual, but subject to restrictions for security reasons and curfews. There may be difficulties with calling an ambulance, both private and 103.
In connection with the re-profiling of hospitals, there are difficulties with the organization of planned hospitalization. A large number of doctors work remotely, so it may be difficult to organize face-to-face appointments with doctors of narrow specialties at a time and place convenient for the client.
IC “ARX” has been operating in the insurance market for 26 years. According to the company, it is the leader in CASCO insurance for the 12th year in a row. It ranks first among Ukrainian insurers in terms of net insurance premiums and net insurance payments for 2019. It is part of the international insurance holding Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Canada).
