International Experts: The Future of Health Insurance is under the Spotlight

At the 25th anniversary of health insurance of the two Baltic countries, international experts will gather at a number of important meetings to ask how to ensure the effective functioning of the local healthcare systems in the next quarter of a century.

The World Health Organization expert Sarah Thompson, OECD expert Agnes Couffhinnal, and Tanel Ross, Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, discussed issues related to the challenges of health insurance systems, reduction of people's cost-sharing and the cost-effectiveness of financing, last week at the conference of the Lithuanian Health Insurance Anniversary Conference in Vilnius.

Tanel Ross presented in his presentation the strategic goal and prospects of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, emphasizing that modern healthcare systems should become more and more human-centered, and important keywords include the implementation of high-quality health data for the benefit of the health of every person, more precise and personalized medical care and disease prevention, as well as financing models based on patient needs and quality objectives of high-quality treatment.

The discussion on the sustainability and development of health insurance continued on September 27 in Tallinn when health experts gathered at the roundtable “Solidary Health Insurance 25 - What Next?" the recording of which can be viewed on the ERR portal. The roundtable was attended by Georg Männik, Maris Jesse, Tanel Ross and Kadi Lambot.

The discussion with international experts will continue in October when the Health Insurance Fund and the World Bank organized a conference "Towards Integrated Care" in Tallinn, focusing on how to better link the story of human health to a working whole between different parties. The conference will present for the first time the results of the World Bank report on the Estonian healthcare purchasing model and a pilot project in which Estonian family physicians tested clinical guidelines specially developed for the treatment of risk patients.

Click here to see Tanel Ross's presentation.