- Статьи
- Society
- Pros and cons: in the struggle for staff, the business has increased the cost of VMI by 1.5 times
Pros and cons: in the struggle for staff, the business has increased the cost of VMI by 1.5 times
Russian employers are massively expanding social security packages amid an escalated struggle for staff: over the past two years, the number of companies issuing voluntary health insurance (VMI) policies for employees has increased by more than one and a half times compared to 2023. This is how businesses try to eliminate staff hunger and increase the loyalty of specialists. However, the total coverage of the population by private insurance remains low — from 20 to 26%. How the policy becomes a key argument when hiring and why it benefits the state to improve the health of employees — in the material of Izvestia.
The number of companies with VMI is growing
The share of employers who offer employees a bonus in the form of voluntary health insurance is steadily growing, Roman Gubanov, Director of Development at Avito Rabota, told Izvestia. By the end of 2025, the number of such companies increased by 11% compared to the previous year, and by 49% in 2024.
According to analysts, over the past three years, employers in the fields of oil and gas, heavy machinery, energy, insurance, electrical equipment manufacturing and the chemical industry have most often issued VMI policies for their employees.
Employers' interest in corporate VMI is growing, the market has confirmed to Izvestia. According to AlfaStrakhovanie, in 2025, the number of companies that included it in social packages increased by 6% compared to the previous year, and in 2024 - by 14%.
Sogaz estimates that the demand for VMI among legal entities last year was 12% higher than in 2024. Health insurance turned out to be the most in demand among large employers from the fields of finance, IT, industry and transport.
"There is also growing interest from small and medium—sized businesses due to digital services that simplify access to services," Sogaz said. — For companies, VMI becomes a tool for competition for personnel, and also helps to manage the costs associated with sick leave.
As analysts have noted, voluntary health insurance is now being transformed — industrial enterprises, for example, are increasingly including early diagnosis and medical support programs in the VMI. Many supplement the packages with telemedicine services, psychological support, and also ask to insure employees in case of rare diseases and rehabilitation after injuries.
In 2025, the number of companies that issued VMI to their employees increased by 18%, and in 2024 it increased by 16% compared to 2023, said Anastasia Skurikhina, director of Ingosstrakh's health insurance department.
— By itself, the number of employers does not fully reflect the state of the market, as companies vary significantly in the number of employees. In 2025, a corporate VMI policy was issued for 1.9 million people, and in 2024 — 1.7 million. The growth was observed not only in the number of policyholders, but also in the number of insured employees," she noted.
One of the new trends is the attention of employers to insurance programs in case of malignant neoplasms, the expert noted. Services for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer have become more frequent in the LMS for employees, Zhanna Dorosh, Candidate of medical Sciences, director of the medical service of JSC "Medicine", told Izvestia.
The struggle for personnel
The growing interest in VMI from employers is due to the high competition for qualified personnel, Anastasia Skurikhina also believes. In addition, in her opinion, this may indicate dissatisfaction with the level of public medicine.
According to Avito Jobs, applicants include VMI in the top three crucial criteria when choosing a job. This, in turn, is used by companies to attract and retain employees, Roman Gubanov is sure.
People compare employers not only in terms of salary, but also in terms of the quality of life in the company — in terms of schedule, workload, management and basic health care, Olesya Bormotova, HR director at Newstaff multiservice company, told Izvestia.
"Taking care of employees' health is no longer perceived as a beautiful bonus and is now considered part of the company's effectiveness," the expert noted. — Employees who don't see real support lose trust and engagement, and they start looking for alternatives faster. Strong and sought-after specialists leave especially quickly, as they have more choice.
She added that Russian business is now trying to make health programs and VMI packages more individual. Demand is also growing for formats that provide quick access to medical care and save time, such as telemedicine services.
Are the employees caring enough
According to SuperJob surveys, in 2025, VMI policies were included in the social packages of 23% of Russian companies. At the same time, in 2024 and 2023, there were even fewer such employers - 18% and 17%, respectively.
According to the data of "Work.Last year, more than 70% of organizations that submitted their proposals on this portal promised job seekers social packages, of which LMS was available in 26% of cases. In 2024, 60% of organizations provided social support to employees — half of them offered health insurance. Most of the surveyed employers noted that they were introducing benefits to strengthen staff loyalty, retain key personnel, and increase productivity.
Only 21% of citizens have voluntary health insurance policies, but only 11% received them thanks to their employer, such data was provided in February by Elena Mikhailova, a member of the scientific council of the All—Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).
"In general, more than 40% of Russians believe that the employer does nothing at all to preserve their health," she said, speaking at the SmartZdrav congress. — According to people, companies either don't think about it or don't inform. Every third employee of harmful enterprises said that he did not know about the possibility of undergoing medical examination. This is a problem of both information and implementation.
As Elena Mikhailova emphasized, the employer assumes functions that are very difficult or impossible for the state to perform.
— We are talking about the formation of habits, which are then realized in families, all this affects the demographic potential of the country. It is important to talk not only about physical health, but also about mental health. The survey results from October 2025 showed that half of the employees experience severe fatigue several times a week due to nervous, responsible work and psychologically difficult situations," the expert noted.
The coverage of the LCA population in the whole country is quite low, but employers' interest in health insurance programs is steadily growing, says Lyudmila Japaridze, an otorhinolaryngologist and director of the Soft Medical Center clinic.
— The presence of VMI has a positive effect on a person's attitude to their health: people do not wait for something to hurt them, but check-ups take place in advance. It's free for them. But employers, of course, are not very profitable if employees use all the services, hence there may be a lack of information," she suggested in an interview with Izvestia.
In megacities, where large companies compete for people systematically, VMI and health programs have already become the standard. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized businesses are limited to medical examinations and one-time initiatives, Olesya Bormotova noted.
— In Russia, they take care of employees, but this happens very unevenly. This is not the norm, but it is not a sensation either. Voluntary health insurance is an expensive and organizationally complex tool. Moreover, the absence of VMI in many cases does not mean that the employer is not interested in health. Most often, this means that companies cannot "pull" the regular increase in the cost of medical services, she said.
Another limitation may be poor communication from the employer. Employees are often not informed which health programs are available to them and how to use them, as a result, people get the feeling that the company is not doing anything for them, the expert believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
