Dominican Republic

Axco provides details on the life insurance sector including the Dominican Republic market participants, reinsurance and distribution channels. The reports describe classes of business from both individual and group life such as whole life, endowment, term life and unit-linked.
Information on non-life classes for example critical illness and private medical insurance.

The report describes the public and private healthcare system in the Dominican Republic, the scope of cover, accessibility financing and provides an analysis of how the public and private systems complement each other.

Axco reports on the three pillars of the Dominican Republic pension provision.

• State pension benefits including benefit calculations and eligibility criteria 
• Workplace pension provision; types of schemes calculations eligibility and; tax implications
• Voluntary individual pension provision, type of products and tax implications

The Dominican Republic report provides an in-depth analysis of the regulatory framework governing social security as well as details on financing and eligibility. Information includes but is not limited to

• state pensions,
• permanent disability benefit
• occupational accident and disease
• maternity and paternity payments 

The insurance market in the Dominican Republic in 2019 is growing but is characterised by relatively low market penetration compared with peer markets such as Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Having said that with strong real economic growth projected at 5.07% in 2019 and low inflation at 1.51% there are good conditions for future market growth.

Healthcare and PA insurance are classified as life business. Combined life, PA and healthcare net written premiums were DOP 25.06bn (USD 506.19mn), in 2018, representing 42.08% of the total insurance market.

Prior to the introduction of Social Security Law No 87-01 of 9 May 2001 there were about 400 private pension schemes in place. Almost all have since disappeared, as most employers feel that the earnings-related social security pensions fulfil the same role. Most of the remaining few private plans are administered by AFPs. It is reported that only two defined benefit (DB) plans now exist, the remainder being defined contribution (DC), although little or no growth in numbers of schemes or members are reported.

There is little likelihood of change in the foreseeable future as there are no tax advantages in contributing to private pension ....

The basic social security healthcare provision is not comprehensive, thus leaving a space for private insurance companies to fill gaps or top up what are seen to be inadequacies in the system. This is done at all levels, from employee benefit plans to individual and family plans for high net-worth clients, including international benefits. Cover is needed also by people not included in the social security system, such as the self-employed.

The health risk administrators (ARSs) handle the requirements of the social security scheme, as well as competing with insurers for top-up or wider cover. ARSs tend to dominate the voluntary market as an adjunct to their basic plans, but this is gradually ....