Algeria: Labour ministry considers broadening the membership base of mutual insurers
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Aug 2023
The Ministry of Labour is examining the importance of strengthening complementary social security and broadening the base of members of mutual insurance companies.
The objective is to increase the capacity to cover the health costs of employees, reported newspaper L’Expression.
Minister of labour, employment and social security Fayçal Bentaleb said that strengthening the system is dependent essentially on the importance of mutual insurance companies and their ability to generate the resources necessary for effective support.
In other words, the value of social security benefits and tools remains proportional to the value of contributions. The functioning of mutuals is based on their membership and the importance of contributions. As such, the public authorities have to raise mutual insurance companies to the ranks of social actors and make them an essential link in the chain which makes up the foundations of social security.
In addition to covering additional healthcare costs, mutual insurance companies offer numerous advantages that contribute to improving the living environment of employees, such as health facilities and holiday centres.
Mr Bentaleb said, “Through the optional and additional advantages granted to their members, mutual insurance companies contribute to the strengthening of the national social security system, as well as to facilitating social and recreational activity which benefit the persons concerned.”
It is therefore a system that remains dependent on the willingness of workers to participate through contributions, to increase the development capacities of these institutions. M