The aggregate net profit of insurers active in the health insurance branch in Lebanon reached $15.6m in 2017, constituting a decline of 26.7% from $21.3m in 2016, according to data released by the Insurance Control Commission.
The medical segment posted a net profit margin of 3.5% in 2017 compared to 4.6% in 2016, and relative to a profit margin of 11% for the insurance sector as a whole, noted Byblos Bank in its Lebanon This Week bulletin, citing the official data.
Gross premiums from the health insurance branch decreased by 1.1% to $454.4m in 2017, and accounted for 44.4% of non-life premiums and 30% of the insurance sector’s aggregate premiums. Group health premiums reached $255.1m, accounting for 56.1% of the medical branch’s aggregate premiums, while premiums generated from the individual health segment totalled $199.4m and accounted for 43.9% of the total.
Lebanon’s medical insurance market is heavily concentrated, as the top-five companies in the ‘group’ health segment underwrote 64.8% of premiums for groups, while the top five insurers in the ‘individual’ health segment accounted for 57% of individual health premiums.
Overall, MedGulf led all insurers with $67.4m in medical premiums in 2017 and accounted for 14.8% of the branch’s aggregate premiums; followed by Bankers with $54.9m (12.1%); Continental Trust with $47.1m (10.4%); AXA Middle East with $43.7m (9.6%) and Allianz SNA with $41.9m (9.2%).
Further, paid claims totalled $329.1m in 2017, constituting a decline of 1.8% from $335.3m in 2016. Gross claims paid from the ‘group’ segment reached $216.2m and accounted for 65.7% of aggregate health claims in 2017, while those of the ‘individual’ segment amounted to $112.9m and represented 34.3% of the total last year. The sector paid 1,481,161 claims in 2017, constituting an increase of 15.6% from 1,281,319 claims in 2016.
In parallel, the loss ratio, or the ratio of claims incurred to earned gross premiums, of the ‘individual’ health segment was 60.7% in 2017. The commission ratio, or the ratio of acquisition cost to earned gross premiums, reached 17.9%. The expense ratio was 13% and the reinsurance ratio was -0.2%. As such, the average technical combined loss ratio reached 91.4% in 2017 compared to 90.5% in 2016.
Further, the loss ratio of the ‘group’ medical insurance segment was 89% in 2017, the commission ratio reached 5.7%, the expense ratio was 11%, and the reinsurance ratio reached -1.9% in 2017. As such, the average combined loss ratio of the ‘group’ medical insurance segment reached 103.8% in 2017 compared to 102.9% in 2016.
Health insurance covered 936,252 persons in 2017 through various medical plans that 36 health insurers offered in the market. M