COVID-19 AND PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE: A RESEARCH ON INDIVIDUALS PERSPECTIVES ON PRIVATE INSURANCE IN TURKEY

Abstract

At the end of 2019, the world met a new type of coronavirus and faced a serious pandemic caused by this virus. In many areas of daily life, especially in health, it has been attempted to combat the effects of the pandemic in question. About 500 million people worldwide have been infected with the virus, and about 7 million of them have died. The heavy disease process and the number of infected people negatively affected the health system of the countries. Individuals expected to receive the best service from hospitals during the epidemic period. Of course, the monetary dimension of this service has also reached serious figures. This situation brings us private health insurance as an alternative exit door. The public or additional private health insurance that the individual has makes him/her feel somewhat comfortable. Especially with private health insurance or supplementary health insurance, policyholders feel more secure in such difficult situations. After COVID-19 was seen as the first case in our country on March 10, 2020, diagnosis and treatment services were carried out by public hospitals. Later, private hospitals were declared as pandemic hospitals by the Ministry of Health and started to provide diagnosis and treatment services. Especially in cases where the treatment takes a long time and requires intensive care, the serious financial burden has created a problem for insurance companies and the insured. In this context, this study is aimed to investigate individuals’ perspectives on insurance and private health insurance in Covid-19 times. Data were collected and statistically analyzed through the questionnaire prepared within the scope of the study.