**2. Health insurance system in Slovenia**

According to the last available data, the public expenditures for health care in Slovenia amounted to 72.8% of THE (total health expenditures) in 2019, 69.4% being compulsory health insurance and 3.4% government expenditures. The private expenditures for health care amounted to the remaining 27.2%, from which 11.7% are out-of-pocket expenditures and the rest (15.5% of THE) are voluntary insurance schemes. The Health Care and Health Insurance Act (1992) defines more types of voluntary health insurance in Slovenia, which are as follows:


4.Parallel health insurance is insurance for services that are covered by compulsory health insurance but are realized following different procedures and different conditions.

All persons who have a permanent residence in Slovenia must have compulsory health insurance in Slovenia. At the end of 2021, there were 3214 (0.15%) uninsured persons with permanent residence. Mostly, these are persons whose status is undergoing change, for example, students who finished their studies and are getting employed.

Compulsory health contributions are the largest source of income in the Slovenian health care system. Contribution rates, which are employment-based and paid from gross income, vary by group and type of employment of insured individuals. Employees pay 6.36% of their gross income, while employers pay 6.56% for illness and injury out of work plus an additional 0.53% for injuries at work and occupational diseases. The total contribution rate hence amounts to 13.45% of gross income. The contribution rates are the same for self-employed, though their contribution base is equal to the gross pension base and cannot be lower than 60% of the last-known average annual wage [2]. The contributions for the unemployed are covered by National Institute for Employment; the contributions for the pensioners are covered by Pension and Disability Insurance Institute at a 5.96% contribution rate from net pensions.

The Health Care and Health Insurance Act (1992) defines the rights to health care alongside their coverage within compulsory health insurance. The coverage ranges between 10% and 100%, depending on the services. A minimum of 90% of the cost of services is covered for organ transplantation and urgent surgeries, treatment abroad, intensive therapy, radiotherapy, dialysis, and other urgent interventions included in the basic benefits package; 80% of the cost of treatment for reduced fertility, artificial insemination, sterilisation, and abortion; specialist surgery; nonmedical care and spa treatment in continuation of hospital treatment with the exception of non-occupational injuries; dental care and orthodontics; orthopedics; hearing and other aids and appliances; 70% of the cost of medications from the positive list and for specialist, hospital and spa treatment of non–workrelated injuries.

A maximum of 60% is covered for non-emergency ambulance transportation, medical and spa treatment; 50% of the cost of ophthalmological devices and adult orthodontic treatment; 25% of the cost of pharmaceuticals from the intermediate list.

The remaining shares of the services must be covered by out-of-pocket copayments. As these can reach quite high levels, 95% of the population, liable to purchase the coinsurance, is insured with complementary health insurance. Due to the high share of the population covered, complementary health insurance is by far the main type of voluntary health insurance in Slovenia and has been described as 'compulsory' or 'de facto essential' [3].

There are three companies that offer complementary health insurance in Slovenia: Vzajemna, Generali, and Triglav zdravje. The premium is a flat rate and equal for everyone. The monthly premium amounted to an average of 34 EUR in 2021.

To ensure that the companies do not offer coverage only to low-risk or healthy and young individuals, the Ministry of Health (MoH) introduced the risk-equalisation scheme in 2005. According to the scheme, contributions are reallocated among the insurance companies based on the age and gender of the insured. The aim is to

equalize the portfolio structures (according to the age and gender) of the insurance companies. The funds are transferred from insurance companies with more favorable risk portfolios to insurance companies with less favorable portfolios, the intention being the equalisation of differences in risk structures.

Individuals who have taken out supplementary health insurance pay premiums to the insurance companies, who in turn pay the full costs directly to the respective health care provider. As the basic benefit package in the compulsory scheme comprises a wide range of services, there is little room for supplementary health insurance. Parallel insurance, which covers services such as faster access to medical treatment, nonmedical services in hospitals, and higher-quality materials, with providers already offering services within compulsory health insurance, gains in popularity. Since 2017, the share of other voluntary health insurance (VHI) policies has been increasing, mostly due to ever-lengthening waiting lists in the public health care system. In 2019, supplementary and parallel insurance was purchased by 26% of the population (2011: 5.6%; 2015: 18.9%); however, their premiums still represent a small share (4.55%) of all voluntary health insurance premiums.
