Contracts and applications are increasing significantly

• There is a significant increase in almost all categories of applications and services to the Icelandic Health Insurance.

• Health insurance last year awarded nearly three times as many new contracts as in 2018.

• Applications to the Icelandic Health Insurance regarding treatment abroad due to long waiting periods have increased significantly in the past few years.

• The overall increase in applications is considerable in more complex cases requiring the involvement of doctors, dentists, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists or pharmacists.

• The number of applications for pharmacy licenses has doubled.

The number of cases received by the Icelandic Health Insurance has increased significantly in the last few years. When the number of main petitions is compared between 2018 and 2022 (the 2022 figures are calculated for a full year), it can be seen that there has been a significant increase in almost all policy areas. For example, applications for urgent treatment abroad (i.e. very complex treatment that cannot be provided in Iceland due to a lack of specialized knowledge or equipment) have increased by almost 50%, applications for treatment abroad due to long waiting periods by nearly 270% and applications for medicinal product licences have doubled over the period; now the Icelandic Health Insurance handles 150 applications every working day. In the extremely rare cases of a recession in any particular field, the increase is much smaller than in other categories. See the attached table.

Number of new contracts triples in three years

Icelandic Health insurance last year awarded almost three times as many new contracts as in 2018, which is the year before health policy was issued. This large increase in 2021 is partly related to COVID, and by 2022, more than one third of contracts have been awarded in all of 2018. This substantial increase in new contracts is despite the fact that agreements have not yet been reached on the services of physiotherapists and specialist physicians. The work that has been done in the negotiations by the Icelandic Health Insurance is therefore not reflected in these figures. Of the 72 contracts that were awarded in 2021, four were with government agencies, eight with municipalities, and 60 with private parties, non-profit institutions, limited companies, etc. Considering all the contract documents signed between 2018 and 2021, i.e., new contracts, as well as agreements, amendments, annexes, extensions, etc., it can be seen that the number roughly doubled. This increased productivity of Health Insurance when contracting can be attributed to the requirements of the health policy, which was established in 2019, and increased contributions to health services. At the same time as the tasks of the Institute have increased to a high level, fixed public contributions to its operations have decreased at a fixed price level.