Jordan: Govt to unify health insurance funds
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Sep 2018
The Jordanian government plans to implement a new strategy to unify health insurance funds to prevent duplication, cut financial waste and reduce costs, said media reports.
It is also working to find a suitable mechanism to attract non-subscribers, while continuing to cover the poor and those with limited income.
Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said in a ministerial statement to the House of Representatives that the government is seeking to move from a situation of multidisciplinary and diversified health insurance with various benefits and contributions to the development of a fair health insurance system, which is linked to the size of contributions and meets the principles of takaful.
The government also wants to bridge the gap between the types of care which citizens receive based on their economic, functional or geographic status, reported Al Ghad.
To achieve this, an informed source in the Ministry of Health told Al-Ghad that the ministry is currently working on establishing a computerised database and linking it with all health service providers, as a step towards achieving universal health insurance. The database covers details and figures and health insurance coverage of the population.
The government has been seeking for a number of years to establish an independent health insurance body that serves as an umbrella for existing health insurance funds in both the public and private sectors and one that will ensure the rights of the insured. It is also reviewing the contribution rates for the health insurance scheme.
The Ministry of Health will then gradually withdraw from managing health insurance, and will only assume the role of the executive authority for hospitals and medical centres. M