Private health insurance can play an increasingly important role as a complementary solution to the public healthcare system, but it cannot replace it, according to President of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) Alexandru Petrescu.
"At the Aspen Healthcare Summit 2026, I spoke about one of the defining questions of our time: how we rethink solidarity in a society where healthcare systems are under increasing pressure, populations are ageing, technology is profoundly transforming medicine and citizens' expectations are naturally rising, sometimes faster than institutions can respond. Health is not merely a medical or budgetary issue. It is one of the most tangible ways in which a society demonstrates its cohesion, maturity and respect for human dignity. And solidarity must be protected from two extremes: the illusion that the state can do everything on its own without limits and the temptation to turn healthcare into a sphere governed exclusively by individual resources. From the perspective of the Financial Supervisory Authority, health insurance can play an increasingly important role as a complementary solution to the public system. It does not replace the public healthcare system, which remains the backbone of social protection, but it can help reduce pressure, improve risk distribution, support prevention, provide faster access to services and transform unpredictable expenses into planned financial mechanisms," Alexandru Petrescu wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, agerpres reports.
According to him, gross written premiums for health insurance, including branch operations, totalled approximately 1.2 billion lei in 2025, up 11% compared with the previous year.
At the end of 2025, companies authorised by the Financial Supervisory Authority had 277,294 health insurance contracts in force, compared with 246,520 at the end of 2024.
"These figures point to a market that is still relatively young but clearly moving in a direction of growth. For the Financial Supervisory Authority, this development must be based on financial stability, transparency, fair conduct, responsible innovation and genuine consumer protection. Behind every policy there is more than a contract. In most cases there is a vulnerability, a family, a need for security and, often, a fear. Romania needs a mature model of complementarity in which the public system guarantees fundamental access and equity, while well-regulated private mechanisms add flexibility, capacity and prevention. We do not need to choose between solidarity and individual responsibility. A modern society needs both," Alexandru Petrescu stressed.
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