Private healthcare insurers lose 120,000 affiliates in yr.

Chile's private healthcare industry has witnessed the exodus of 120,000 affiliates to the country's public system Fonasa over the last twelve months, local press reported. According to the regulator for Chile's private healthcare insurers, known as Isapres, these healthcare entities have seen their combined client portfolio fall 4.2% to 2.7 million as of end-August this year, compared to the same time last year. The fall in the Isapres' client portfolio is principally due to the systematic rise in the price of private healthcare plans, a average 5% annual price hike in real terms, VP of the local healthcare insurance association Andres Tagle was quoted as saying. The high price of healthcare plans has prompted many Isapre clients to emigrate to Fonasa to ensure continued healthcare insurance coverage, Tagle added. The Isapres regulator is set to gain extensive powers in the near future if congress passes the government's Plan Auge reform package, chief Isapres regulator Manuel Inostroza was quoted as saying in local press last month. The healthcare reforms would give the Isapre regulator supervisory responsibility not only for private healthcare insurers but also for the state-run health system, which is currently under the health ministry's supervision, Inostroza said. Inostroza also revealed the Isapre regulatory body and the social security ministry are planning to introduce reforms to combat medical certificate fraud in both the private and public systems.