Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
The Iranian insurance industry’s debt to the healthcare system over the last fiscal year (starting March 20) amounted to one trillion tomans (about $300 million), the country’s deputy health minister said.
Qasem Jan-Babaei, the deputy for treatment at health ministry, has warned that the delay in settling debt of third party policies may lead to disruptions in the treatment of casualties of car incidents, IRNA news agency reported.
Under the country’s development plan, ten percent of the insurance income from the third party policies should be allocated to the treatment of the casualties of incidents but the insurers have failed to settle the last year’s debt, he added.
The deputy minister further dismissed a proposal by insurers to settle the debts through bonds, saying the insurance firms have received cash from their customers, therefore they must pay the share of health ministry in cash.
According to the country’s traffic police, about 16,000 people lose their lives in traffic accidents annually. The incidents leave about 333,000 casualties per year which means 43 death cases and 910 injuries per day. About 73 of death cases took place in the roads and 27 percent in the urban areas. Pedestrians and bikers account for 80 percent of the death cases.