Romanians still rely heavily on the public healthcare system, according to GfK

Approximately 93 percent of Romanians only have a public health insurance so they are still heavily dependent on the public healthcare system, according to a survey carried out by GfK.

Only 2 percent of Romanians have taken up a subscription to a private clinic, paid partially or entirely by their employer while another 2 percent of the population has a private healthcare insurance.

Nearly 4 percent of Romanians do not have any type of health insurance, either public or private.

Bucharest inhabitants are more likely to have a private medical insurance than people living in other parts of the country.

Thus, 5 percent of Bucharesters have a private health insurance while 3.5 percent have subscribed to a private clinic, paid by their employer.

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As far as 2 percent of them are concerned, the private insurance or subscription also covers their life partner or children, which does not happen in other parts of the country.

People with medical insurances are harder to find in regions such as Dobrogea, Muntenia and Moldova. In Dobrogea, 13 percent of the inhabitants, while in Muntenia and Moldova 6 percent of the inhabitants do not have any type of insurance whatsoever.

The most vulnerable age category is that of young people between 18 and 34, where 16 percent are not insured.

“Even though the public healthcare system is flawed, at the moment only a few percentages of the population has subscribed to private clinics. Since this difference represents needs that are not covered by the public system, this indicates that the market of private medical services has great growth potential. Furthermore, in Romania more than 3 million employees work in the private system,” says Ana-Maria Drăgănică, group account manager at GfK Romania.

Romanians’ main healthy habits are to maintain a corresponding hygiene (57 percent), have a positive thinking and approach of life (35 percent) and also eat as many natural and fresh products (27 percent).

On the other hand, more than half of the Romanians do not take vitamins or supplements.

For a quarter of the Romanian population, practicing regular physical exercise and moderation in drinking alcohol and smoking is last on the list of healthy habits.

The survey was carried out on a sample of 1,000 people via face-to-face interviews.

Otilia Haraga