Armenian government considering introduction of comprehensive health insurance

Presenting a relevant draft concept Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said several models had been examined. She added that the goal is to create a stable system of health care financing, based on the principles of state social responsibility and solidarity of the population, and ensuring financial accessibility of basic medical services to all segments of the population.

The minister presented what had been done in terms of financial assessment of the system implementation, drawing up a package of basic services, determination of groups of population to be insured and calculation of all relating expenses.

The minister emphasized that an important guarantee of successful implementation of the system is the parallel implementation of other reforms in the health area, such as improvement of infrastructure, development of e-health and strengthening of capacities of primary health care units.

Noting the importance of the reform, Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the primary objective of the comprehensive health insurance is prevention of diseases. ‘It is necessary to implement such a model, which will guarantee cost-effective and high-quality performance of the health system,’ he said.

He also stressed that in parallel to this, it is important to introduce a system of universal declaration of income, taking into account the interconnectedness and mutual influence of these reforms.

Pashinyan instructed the ministry o amend the draft concept and submit it for final discussion. -0-