The local private health service market could exceed €400 million this year, up 20 percent compared to 2008, due to sustained demand and a lower public health budget, according to main players on the market. “As long as the state allocates so little funding, people will opt for the private system, as they have nowhere else to go,” according to the President of MedLife health company, Mihail Marcu. He added that the market is to reach €380-400 million this year. Currently, this market is estimated to be worth €350 million and covers only 5 percent of overall health services in Romania. According to Marcu, its growth rate in 2008 was an annual 30 percent. However, the CEO of Unirea Medical Center (CMU), Sergiu Negut, indicated that this year’s advance will be lower compared to 2008, at some 15-20 percent. Marcu said that the health budget dropped to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, from 4.3 percent of GDP last year. Neighboring Bulgaria allocated 7 percent of GDP for its public health system. The General Manager of Gral Medical health services provider, Robert Serban, agrees that the public system budget cut will become the engine of private health market growth. “It is very likely that the market will reach €400 million, because the public system cannot really cope” with demand, he said. Meanwhile, private health service providers are announcing rocketing business growth. CMU posted an 85 percent year-on-year increase in sales on the individual segment in January. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, the rise was 31 percent. Company officials said the advance is due to investments made in opening new diagnosis and treatment facilities and a gynecology and obstetrics hospital. MedLife also announced an 80 percent rise in turnover in January, compared to the same month in 2008. Furthermore, the company plans to invest €5 million this year to expand areas for medical services. (D.B.)
