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Supervisory Board Approves the 2011 Annual Report of the Estonian Health Insurance Board

20.04.2012

Supervisory Board Approves the 2011 Annual Report of the Estonian Health Insurance Board

20.04.2012

At the Supervisory Board’s meeting held today, the annual report of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund was unanimously approved. The total expenses of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund amounted to 725.5 million euros last year, increasing by almost 4% compared to the year 2010. The Supervisory Board also approved the conditions regarding the competition for the position of the Chairman of the Management Board.

The Minister of Social Affairs Hanno Pevkur, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, considered the decrease in the extent of cost-sharing and the increased number of visits very positive when commenting the report; there were ca. 600,000 additional appointments with various doctors last year. “The extent of cost-sharing in prescription medicinal products dropped for the second year in the row and has decreased by almost 10% by now,” Pevkur added.

The number of persons with health insurance coverage at the end of the year was 1,245,469, an average of 1200 euros of social tax per employee was paid per year for 46% of them. The percentage of those insured by the state was 5% and 687 euros of social tax per person per year was paid for them from the state budget. The percentage of persons equal to insured persons was 49%.

Last year, 981,575 people turned to their family physician. A positive tendency is that the number of appointments with family nurses is on the increase. 66.1 million euros were spent on financing general medical care last year, which is 2% more than in 2010.

During last year, 807,875 insured persons used the services of specialist doctors, which is approximately 11,000 people more than in 2010. A total of 417 million euros were spent on financing specialised medical care. Compared to 2010, expenses on specialised medical care increased by 4%. The number of out-patient treatment cases grew by 4% and the number of day care cases by 12%. The average cost of one ambulatory visit for the Estonian Health Insurance Fund was 45 euros and the average cost of hospital treatment 1,008 euros.

Approximately 15 million euros were spent on long-term nursing care last year, which enabled providing care in 12% more cases compared to 2010. The use of the home nurse service increased the most (23%).

6.9 million prescriptions at a discount rate were used to buy medicinal products from pharmacies, which is 255,849 more than in 2010. The Estonian Health Insurance Fund spent a total of 91.5 million euros on compensating for prescriptions at a discount rate. The average cost of a prescription at a discount rate for the Estonian Health Insurance Fund decreased by 1 euro, remaining at the level of 13 euros. The average cost of a prescription for a patient was 6.95 euros in 2011.

The Supervisory Board also approved the conditions regarding the competition for the position of the Chairman of the Management Board of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. The new Chairman of the Management Board will be chosen by August.