On February 28th this year the universal healthcare program was launched in Georgia. This concerns the interests of citizens who do not have adequate health insurance. In less than five months since this program was initiated 1,347,658 people have been enrolled, more than 40 thousand of those being served in an out-patient setting, and almost 15.5 thousand receiving treatment in hospital, which cost the state treasury of Georgia nearly GEL 6.4 million.

Since July 1st the universal healthcare program has moved to the second phase of implementation, which meant taking care of the expansion of medical services to the population.

"In Georgia, universal access to basic health care was achieved through three different tools. Precisely, we know that about 500,000 people have private health insurance. 1,600, 000 people are insured through the state insurance programs, which are paid for by the state and function by means of insurance companies. An innovation - launched on February 28th 2013, with the second phase started on July 1st, is the realization of a new universal healthcare program," said Devi KHECHINASHVILI, Chairman of the Association of Insurance Companies of Georgia.

The universal healthcare program has placed an emphasis on providing emergency in-patient care and out-patient services, and was implemented by the Social Service Agency.

Property insurance - necessary, but still early

Currently, in Georgia there is the voluntary property insurance, which represents about 10% of the market. So far, the precondition for the introduction of compulsory insurance of property does not exist.

"In Georgia there are about 1 million private apartments and houses and the main risks faced by the country is an earthquake. Georgia is in a 6 seismic zone except Batumi. The last major earthquake causing property damage was in 2001. The climate is changing, the weather is more hurricane-shaped and we are facing annual flood cases. However, we are not ready for the introduction of compulsory insurance of property," said Devi KHECHINASHVILI.

Agricultural insurance - insurance costs

According to Mr. KHECHINASHVILI, negotiations are going on about the introduction of agricultural insurance, but it is not about crop insurance due to the expected insurance costs.

"We hope that next spring the government will continue to subsidize agriculture. Last spring, the government paid for smallholder farmers (up to 5 hectares) of 50-60% of the costs associated with the processing of land and crops. The budget allocated for grants has reached GEL 150 million," concluded Mr. KHECHINASHVILI.

Read more in the forthcoming edition of XPRIMM Insurance Report - CEE, Russia&CIS, SE 1H2013, to be released on October 20th, on the occasion of the XPRIMM Reception in Baden-Baden.

Access www.xprimm.com and download the 1Q2013 Georgian insurance market statistics.

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