Egypt: Three panels to implement health insurance law
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Apr 2016
Three committees will be set up to put in place Egypt's new health insurance law. The first will oversee the transitional period for the implementation of the law, the second will work on regulations to put the proposed national health insurance scheme into effect, and the third will focus on the pricing of plans.
Dr Khalid Mujahid, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, revealed this and said that the committee currently preparing the draft health insurance Bill had studied public feedback on the scheme, including views from unions and medical professionals. The drafting committee is scheduled to hand over the draft Bill to Dr Ahmed Emad El-Din Rady, Minister of Health, around mid-March, reported Vetogate.
There has been fierce opposition to the draft health insurance law from the Doctors' Syndicate. In particular, the medical association wants free medical care for all Egyptians. It also noted that the Bill proposed that a medical insurance authority be set up to oversee the scheme, which would be an economic entity instead of a non-profit organisation, which opens the door to commercialisation at government hospitals. The doctors also called for funding for the scheme to come from taxes collected for the health sector, and for public hospital efficiency to be improved before the scheme is implemented.
Dr Alaa Ghannam, a member of the drafting committee, said that several changes have been made to the draft Bill, such as the concept and definition of the underprivileged, the inclusion of all community funding such as tobacco taxes, and for the chronically ill and poor to be exempted from fees.
The Ministry of Health is planning to conduct a pilot of the medical insurance scheme in several cities before implementing it nationwide. The pilot cities selected are those that already have an existing database for citizens who have received smart cards for the provision of public services.