On Friday Jan. 10, the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, announced in Parliament a new legislative initiative aimed to address the increases in health insurance premiums as well as the establishment of a new index that will meet the needs of the market.
In fact, he announced that the government is expected to proceed in the near future with a legislative initiative involving the establishment of a new, objective index that will take into account new data in order to meet the market’s needs, replacing the current one prepared by IOBE.
The index will be in effect starting Jan. 1, 2026, and will be prepared by the Greek Statistical authority (ELSTAT).
Additionally, the minister announced that there will be regulations for transparency in the pricing of services and continuous updates for consumers so that they can make the necessary comparisons.
At the same time, Theodorikakos sent a clear message to insurance companies, urging them to adjust their insurance contracts, emphasizing that increases of 14.6% are not acceptable to the government.
With regards to the regulations for transparency in the pricing of services which are expected to be implemented, the minister mentioned that he will address the President of the Competition Committee, Mary Sharpe, and request the immediate completion of investigations into the issue of private healthcare cartels, which are considered responsible for prices increases.
Theodorikakos also stated that the new initiative being promoted will combine consumer protection with the financial stability of insurance companies, as the entire pool of insured individuals must be protected.
Providing the relevant data, he mentioned that there are currently 900,000 private health insurance contracts in effect, of which 255,000 are lifetime contracts. These contracts have seen significant increases in recent years, resulting in their decline.
“We are concerned with the financial stability of the health insurance companies as well as with the consumers,” the minister stated, adding that the companies must adjust, stressing that such increases will not be tolerated.
He also pointedly emphasized, “Otherwise, the government has proven that it knows what it needs to do,” citing the example of the banks.
