Romania has the least developed private health insurance market in Europe. The National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania (UNSAR) promoted the need of a developed private health insurance market for years, with no significant results. We studied the blockage factors for the population, the employers and the authorities. The main identified deadlock was insufficient deductibility.
Objective
Expanding deductibility for private health insurance expense: - Increasing the limit of deductibility granted to employees from 250 euro to 400 euro/year/ person. - Extending deductibility for individuals’ income.
Strategy:
Our strategy focused on a 6 months concentrated campaign for engaging with a wide range of key opinion formers and leaders in order to gain support to step up to the next level of the healthcare system, shifting the focus from the fiscal impact of the increase of the deductibility to the social and economic benefits of the measure.
Outcome
Our objective was fully achieved in 6 months. The Fiscal Code was modified: the limit for deductibility granted to employees increased 250 Euro to 400 Euro per year/ person and the deductibility of private extended also for individuals’ income.
What are we expecting
As a consequence of only the new level of deductibility, 25% of Romanian plan to purchase a private health insurance within the next twelve months, according to a study made by an insurance company. Furthermore, projections show that the private health insurance market will double within the next 4 years.
Awards:
- Gold Awarded at PR Awards 2016; - Nominated at European Excellence Awards 2016.
1 in 10 Romanians suffer from diabetes, while 1 in 3 has prediabetes. Only half of those who know that have diabetes are being treated, while 7 out of 10 Romanians diagnosed first came to the doctor in advanced stages of the disease with complications already installed. Annually, half of people with diabetes are hospitalized due to complications. Also, prediabetes is growing, neglected and the diagnosis comes late.
Create awareness and promote policy shaping on diabetes prevention - a legislative framework for diabetes prevention and early diagnosis.
We have brought together, as part of a collaboration platform, all stakeholders in the field of prevention, diagnosis and integrated management of patients with diabetes: authorities, patient associations & medical societies: The Romanian Diabetes Forum. We had more than 6 months of consultations for the internal approval of the measures to be proposed to authorities. In order to have the solutions passed, we developed a wide communication campaign with the political decision makers from all political parties, in order to inform them and obtain favorability, support and endorsement. Draft bill on the prevention and early diagnosis of diabetes was initiated by a group of 92 members of the Parliament. It is the first prevention law drafted for a specific therapeutic area and one of the few similar laws in Europe.
Law 249/2020 was adopted by the Parliament on October 20th, 2020 and afterwards promulgated by the President, on November 13th 2020, one day before Diabetes World Day).
We have achieved a first major victory. We now have a legislative framework with very creative provisions on diabetes prevention that need to be put into place. We focus our attention on identifying the best solutions for the operationalization of this law, engaging authorities to put on their agenda diabetes prevention and health education, while stressing the urgency of developing implementation rules for the law.