Abstract
In the time of the demographic changes, which result in a direct burden on state care financing and influence on changes in the structure of expenditure on health, it is very important to know why people take into consideration the decision of buying private health insurance. This study is attempted to answer this question and is focused on the identification of factors determining the propensity to conclude PVHI by individuals, based on the research carried out by leading global researchers, as well as outlining the impact of identified factors on the demand for PVHI. The paragraph 1 of this paper describes the specifics of financing health care in Poland and the specifics of the private voluntary health insurance market. The next paragraph presents the analysis of factors of demand on private voluntary health insurance on the basis of the literature review. The study finishes the description of the obtained results: the demand factors for PVHI, their impact on the demand for PVHI and conclusions indicating further directions of the research. The study used a descriptive qualitative method of the collected material: selected by key words of scientific publications, documents and expert materials as well as legal acts.
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Notes
- 1.
The full catalog of guaranteed services is included in Art. 15 para. 2 of the Act of August 27, 2004, on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds, Dz.U. [Journal of Acts] 2004, No 210, item 2135, as amended.
- 2.
Publication of the Central Statistical Office Health and Health in 2016, 2017; 158–159.
- 3.
The insurance undertaking may perform insurance activities in the form of a joint stock company, mutual insurance company or an European company defined in the Council Regulation (EC) No. 2157/2001 of October 8, 2001, on the Statute for a European company (SE) (Official Journal EC L 294, 10.11.2001, p. 1, Journal of the EU, Polish Special Edition, Chapter 6, vol. 4, p. 251) https://www.knf.gov.pl/dla_rynku/procesy_licencyjne/ubezpieczeniowy/krajowy_zaklad_ubezpieczen_reasekuracji/forma_prawna, Accessed April 25, 2018.
- 4.
Act of September 11, 2015, on Insurance and Reinsurance Activities, Dz.U. [Journal of Acts] 2015, position: 1844, as amended.
- 5.
In the financial reporting of Polish insurance companies, there is no separate category of health insurance. The publication includes data of all insurance classes. In the case of companies offering sickness insurance from Section II, the premium is given together with the premium collected from the travel insurance, which additionally causes the problem to be the definition of the actual size of the private health insurance market.
- 6.
Legal basis for the conclusion of the contract: art. 68 of the Act of August 27, 2004, on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds, Dz.U. [Journal of Acts] 2008, No. 164 item 1027, as amended.
- 7.
National Health Fund (NFZ)—a state organizational unit operating under the Act of August 27, 2004, on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds, Dz.U. [Journal of Acts] 2008 No. 164 item 1027, as amended and on the basis of the statute given. The fund performs the role of a payer in the Polish healthcare system: the funds from obligatory health insurance contributions from the National Health Fund finance health services provided to insured persons and reimburse medicines.
- 8.
More information on the role of PVHI in the country where research has been carried out in voluntary health insurance in Europe: Role and regulation; Sagan A, Thomson S; Copenhagen (Denmark): European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2016 and at http://international.commonwealthfund.org.
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Śliwiński, A., Borkowska, I. (2020). Private Voluntary Health Insurance: Market in Poland and Determinants of Demand—Review of Literature. In: Janowicz-Lomott, M., Łyskawa, K., Polychronidou, P., Karasavvoglou, A. (eds) Economic and Financial Challenges for Balkan and Eastern European Countries. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39927-6_11
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