IVASS News | Healthcare liability risks in Italy (2010-2018)

On 4 October 2019, IVASS announced the results of the last statistical survey on the coverage of healthcare liability risks for the period 2010-2018. Many interesting elements have come to light. In particular:

• the amount of premiums collected for medical liability insurance is increasing, being equal to a total amount of € 612 million (+ 3.7% compared to 2017). In particular, such growth has been driven by insurance coverage underwritten by private healthcare facilities (18.7% of the total premiums collected) and by health personnel (38% of the total premiums collected). Instead, the coverage underwritten by public health facilities is still decreasing (-22.6% compared to 2017), in accordance with a long-term trend, pursuant to which the total amount of the premium collected in 2018 decreased by more than half compared to 2010;

• non-Italian companies have confirmed their significant role in collecting premiums at public and private facilities (90.1% and 32.9% of the total premiums collected, respectively). The collection of premiums by Italian companies is also increasing (103 million in premiums, against 81 in the previous year);

• market concentration among insurance companies remains significant, the five largest companies accounting for (respectively) 93.5%, 82.1% and 64.7% of the premiums paid by public and private health facilities and healthcare personnel;
• brokers have confirmed their key role in the distribution of policies to public and private healthcare facilities (69.7% and 66.6% of the premiums collected, respectively);
• in 2018, insurance companies have been notified of 17,262 claims (–9.7% compared to 2017), in accordance with a constant downward trend started in 2012. The 4% of these claims appear to have been solved without payout. Such percentage increases up to more than half if claims notified before 2017 are considered;
• in general, a quarter of the claims notified in the reference period have been disputed. It seems that the recourse to the dispute is increasing in the period between 2017 and 2018, concerning 14.4% of the claims notified in 2018, against only 6.3% of those notified in the previous year;
• it has also emerged a general trend of the insurance sector to settle the claims slowly, giving priority to those less complex and characterized by lower amounts: in this regard it was found that only 6.3% of claims reported between 2017 and 2018 appears to have been paid off (for a total amount of € 50,776,000, corresponding to 2.2% of the total compensation paid in the reference period);
• considering, instead, the loss ratio recorded in the period, it has been detected a situation of systematic loss considering to risks related to public health facilities. On the other hand, providing coverage for private healthcare facilities and health personnel is resulted as having positive profit margins;
• in relation to the risks of public health facilities, the use of “auto-ritenzione” is increasing, with designated funds amounting to € 1,952.3 million at the end of 2017. Accordingly, during 2017, provisions were made for a sum of € 592 million (equal to more than double the premiums paid by the same public health structures to obtain a “traditional” insurance policy).

The full article on “Healthcare Liability Risks In Italy (2010-2018)” can be freely downloaded on IVASS website.

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended as a professional opinion.
For further information, please contact Anthony Perotto, Guido Foglia or Michele Zucca.