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Time ripe to offer top notch insurance
It is high time to provide quality insurance products in Viet Nam, a senior executive at an insurance firm said, citing the remarkable growth in incomes, the low average age and growing public awareness of the importance of health care.
"The country’s per capita income is rising quicker than in most other places in the region and world, it has a young population of over 86 million, and people are becoming aware of health services, especially high- and middle-income earners," said Dao Nam Hai, director of PJICO insurance company.
Now is the time
"It is the right time now to launch high-quality insurance products," he said.
Figures from the Viet Nam Insurance Association show that health insurance accounts for the third highest premium income in the non-life market though average spending on it remains the lowest in the category.
Premiums from health insurance last year topped VND1.6 trillion (US$89.7 million), or $1 per head.
Analysts said there were several reasons for the health insurance market remaining modest despite its potential.
They included the lack of co-ordination between healthcare facilities and insurance firms and the shortage of quality products.
Another PJICO executive said though insurance companies had attempted to diversify their products, they had yet to efficiently link up with the healthcare system and, in many cases, remain unattractive to buyers because they did not offer adequate coverage. He cited students’ insurance and public insurance as examples.
Those polled in a recent survey said they were willing to buy insurance as long as quality healthcare products were available, including health consultancy over phone, medical emergency transport, family doctor service and coverage of fees at good medical facilities.
Nguyen Thi Bich Lien, a resident of Lac Trung Ward in Ha Noi, said: "What I am concerned about is not only the benefits from insurance but also the service quality provided by insurers and the added-value of healthcare insurance products."
"If insurers teams up with high-quality medical facilities to serve customers, I am willing to pay reasonable premiums," she added.
VIETNAMNEWS
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