Government to discontinue public-sector social package program, citing overlapping state benefits
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Armenia’s government has decided to discontinue the social package program designed for public-sector employees from January 1, 2027, arguing that the benefits it provides are increasingly covered by other state programs, making the scheme largely redundant.
According to Lusine Harutyunyan, Acting Head of the Labor Law Policy Department of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, the social package was available to employees in the public sector regardless of their salary level. She stressed that, despite its social focus, the program was not a social assistance program and was not intended specifically to support vulnerable groups.
“For example, the social package provided healthcare guarantees. Now, since universal health insurance entered into force on January 1, 2026, and the number of beneficiaries is expanding year by year, this service is being provided to citizens through another program,” Harutyunyan said at a press conference.
Acting Director of the Health Insurance Fund Hayk Babayan said that, in line with government policy, all working citizens in both the public and private sectors, including those who previously received the social package, will be included in the universal health insurance system from January 1, 2027.
The government is discussing covering AMD 8,800 of the AMD 10,800 health insurance contribution from the state budget next year for public-sector employees earning up to AMD 200,000 per month.
“Under the social package, citizens had the opportunity to visit a clinic once a year and undergo certain examinations even if they had no complaints. Universal health insurance will also provide this opportunity. From 2029, a component will come into force that will give citizens the opportunity to undergo preventive medical examinations,” Babayan said, stressing that annual checkups will be mandatory for activating the insurance policy. He described this as an important preventive component.
A significant share of social package beneficiaries were teachers, for whom the government has provided and continues to provide guarantees and opportunities through various separate programs.
Susanna Azatyan, Head of the General Education and Extracurricular Program Development and Implementation Department of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, said that government policy is focused on teachers’ continuous professional development and mechanisms for raising their salaries on that basis.
“A voluntary certification system has been introduced in the education sector. Currently, around 9,500 teachers have increased pay rates and receive additional payments as a result of certification. We currently plan to raise the pay rate set for certified teachers from AMD 200,000 to AMD 300,000. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has also initiated amendments to the law on teacher status, which will establish a number of social guarantees and benefits for teachers,” Azatyan said.
The social package currently has around 130,000 beneficiaries.
Money accumulated under the program so far will remain with citizens. Those who are permitted to cash out the funds will be able to withdraw them.
Those eligible to cash out include people participating in the funded pension system who pay social contributions, as well as pensioners who have left employment and have not received a payment into their account for three months.
Those who are not permitted to cash out the funds will be able to use them for purposes established by the government, including recreation, certain healthcare services, particularly dental care, tuition payments, student loans and mortgage loans.