Over 13.5 People Under Health Insurance Coverage
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
Head of Central Insurance of Iran (Bimeh Markazi) Gholamreza Soleymani says people should be encouraged to buy different types of insurance, calling for exemption of insurance from tax.
Addressing the 26th National Insurance Day in Tehran, he pointed to different types of insurance in the country, adding that currently insurance services in the country are diverse and 25 types of insurance are available but unfortunately people are unaware from the least services of insurance industry.
He added that by implementing the law of large numbers, the insurance industry can minimize the probable heavy damages and by collecting people’s small amount of money, liquidity can be directed properly.
On insurance penetration rate in the country comparing with the neighboring states, he said that the insurance penetration rate the country is currently 2.4 percent while the figure in the UAE is 2.9 percent and in countries like Turkey, Egypt and Kuwait is lower.
He emphasized that insurance means risk management, adding that risk is interlinked with insurance and Central Insurance Company is after creating a center for managing the risk in order to minimize risk-taking in the country.
Soleymani noted that over 13.5m people are currently under health insurance which is aimed at boosting social welfare of people.
He added that payment of monthly premium is some kind of help to the pension funds. He noted that premium in insurance industry is like deposit in the bank and it should be exempted from paying tax and it will encourage people to buy types of insurance.
Soleymani reiterated that all should work to boost the current penetration rate which is around 6 percent in the developed countries, and for this reason insurance industry in those countries is in better position.
He added that life insurance accounts for 60 percent of insurance industry in the developed countries while the figure is around 14.5 percent in Iran.
Soleymani added that one of the major programs of the insurance companies in the country is to encourage people to buy life insurance.
He added that currently 15 knowledge-based companies are present in the insurance industry and ten are active, expressing hope that insurance industry would move towards smartization by presence of knowledge-based companies and start-ups.
