Healthcare ministry seeks to introduce mandatory insurance by 2020

17:03, 29 November, 2017

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The mandatory medical insurance of the population will be introduced in Armenia from the end of 2019 at best. The insurance fee will be either a fixed amount, or maximum 2% of the salary, healthcare minister Levon Altunyan told reporters.

“Only after the flawless work of the insurance program for 612,000 socially vulnerable people in 2018 will the mandatory medical insurance of the population be introduced. There are two formulas for the mandatory medical insurance: when the entire insurance fee, 6000 drams monthly, is paid by the citizen, or when 50% is paid by the citizen and the other 50 by the employer”, the minister said, adding that experience shows that the citizens should pay, because in this case responsibility for their own health increases.

According to Altunyan, the 6000 dram monthly fee is an unprecedented low amount globally, including for post-Soviet countries. In Czech Republic for instance, where healthcare has developed in a short period of time, the insurance fee comprises nearly 15% of salary.

Salaries are lower in Armenia, therefore the insurance fee will be lower.

“We modeled all situations. Even in case of not addressing a doctor the nearly 3000 dram of the monthly fee will be returned to the families due to screening checkups. We charge this amount in order to spend it on the people’s health, to extend the duration of healthy life”, he said.


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