Lebanon: 100% universal health insurance will take several more decades
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Sep 2018
Lebanon is unlikely to achieve universal health coverage for its uninsured population for several more decades, said media reports citing caretaker health minister Ghassan Hasbani.
Mr Hasbani told The Daily Star that 100% universal health coverage would not be achieved within his lifetime. He pointed out that of the LBP650bn ($431.2m) budget allocation his ministry asked for, it received just LBP400bn.
But during his tenure, Mr Hasbani said he would remain committed to former health minister Wael Abu Faour’s commitment to cover 100% of the medical bills of uninsured elderly citizens over 64 years old.
“A very significant number [of the uninsured elderly population] will end up hospitalised at the expense of the government, which will add exponentially to the cost of healthcare over the next 20 years,” he said.
Total health expenditure for 2012 topped LBP4.6tn, according to figures published in the ministry’s Health Strategic Plan 2016-2020 accessible on the Health Ministry website. This includes out-of-pocket payments, contributions and premiums from individuals and employers, treasury expenditures and extra-budgetary donations or loans. The Health Ministry accounted for 31% of total expenditure on healthcare that year.
Lebanese healthcare coverage landscape is patchy. The Health Ministry covers those who lack any coverage or are ineligible for coverage, estimated at 1.4m citizens, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) covers private sector employees and their dependents, the Civil Servants Cooperative (CSC) covers public sector workers and their families, the Army and various security forces each have their own cooperatives. M
LBP100 = $0.07