And the private sector gets 1% of health financing, so private health insurance cannot be blamed for the increase in healthcare costs, as 99% of healthcare financing is not related to private health insurance in any way, the Estonian Insurance Association (EKsL) said. The Estonian Health Insurance Association wants a discussion on encouraging voluntary health insurance.
According to Andres Piirsalu, a member of the board of EKsL, it is time to review the size of the tax benefit. "In Estonia, an employer can contribute EUR 400 per year to an employee's health tax-free, and the amount of tax exemption has remained the same for over six years. During this time, however, the cost of healthcare services has increased significantly. As a result of such rapid increase in the cost of medical services, the employer health insurance coverage has to be reduced due to price increases", Piirsalu explained.
"With the EUR 400 compensation, every year the state is increasingly limiting the employers’ opportunities to contribute to their employees’ health. If we continue like this, employer health insurance, which has been successfully launched to date, may disappear from the Estonian market, because the tax benefit limit doesn’t allow for sufficiently extensive insurance coverage", Piirsalu emphasized.
According to the member of the board of EKsL, increasing the limit will not only benefit today's employers and employees, but also the state. "The health costs of today's insured employees will be lower tomorrow thanks to a preventive effect of employer health insurance - people will receive treatment quickly and this will also prevent possible complications and health problems," Piirsalu added.
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