From 2021 a Universal health insurance fund will start operations within the frame of the phased introduction of the compulsory health insurance (CHI) system, as Arsen TOROSYAN, the Health minister of Armenia, announced.

The planned monthly insurance payments to the Fund may be about 2-3% of salary for working citizens, while, as global practice show, this amount ranges from 2% to 30% (in Eastern Europe it is about 2-3%), as TOROSYAN explained.

"World experience shows that for countries like Armenia it is more reasonable to have a single body, since it groups and minimizes insurance risks of the population by different social and age groups, reduces the size of insurance premiums, ensures transparency and efficiency of managing accumulated financial assets, reduces the administrative costs of the system, provides state supervision over this area", TOROSYAN said. The relative experience of Estonia was taken as a basis of the new system.

The phased introduction of the CHI started in Armenia on October 1, 2017 with a social package for public officials. At the second stage the social package should cover the most disadvantaged segments of the population, and at the third stage - other citizens of the country.

As of 30.09.2018, health insurance ranks 3^rd in the total GWP (29.9% or ~USD 19 million), y-o-y growth rate amounted to 88.5%, according to ArmInfo. However, the loss ratio of the segment has slightly increased from 51.7% to 55.1%.

Health insurance is provided by all 6 Armenian insurers. TOP-3 are INGO Armenia, ROSGOSSTRAKH Armenia and NAIRI Insurance, which for 9 months in 2018 generated more than 77% of the total segment's GWP, based on the data, provided by ArmInfo.