Compulsory health insurance will be introduced in stages

Baku / 11.26.19 / Turan: The introduction of health insurance in Azerbaijan will be implemented from January 1, 2020 in stages, Turan was told by the  State Agency for Compulsory Health Insurance.

In the first quarter, the system will cover 20 regions of the northern region (23.82% of the country's population); in the second quarter it will be applied in 17 regions of the western region (24.6% of the population);  and in the third quarter – in 14 southern regions of the country (19, 53 percent of the population), in the fourth quarter - Baku, Sumgait, Absheron (32.05 percent of the population).

Health insurance covers 3,000 diagnoses.

Expert Natig Jafarli believes that the delay in the introduction of health insurance for many years was because significant parts of the workers were not officially registered. Of the 5.8 million able-bodied population, only 1.6 million are self-employed. The lack of official salaries creates difficulties in involving the population in compulsory health insurance.

On the other hand, the size of insurance payments of 120 manat per year, provided that children, housewives, and disabled people are exempt from them, will not provide high-quality medical care.

He believes that the introduction of compulsory health insurance can be postponed to a later date. For pilot projects have identified such problems as the outflow of health workers from public institutions to private.  

Professor Adil Geybulla believes that many responsible persons for the implementation of compulsory health insurance do not have an idea about this system.

“It was said that the more patients  is examined,  the  more doctor will earn more. However, this is not related to compulsory health insurance. It provides standard packages. Its main purpose is not to consider the patient as a client. This is one of the elements of social security,” said the professor.

According to him, with the system being introduced, it will be impossible to provide the population with free help for the entire package of services. For this, 4 billion manat is needed.

According to Musa Guliyev, a member of the parliamentary  health committee, the entire population of the country will be covered by a package of health insurance worth 90 manat. This will be funded by the state. In addition, oil workers will additionally be provided with health insurance for 2% of their salary, and not in the oil sector - 1%. Until 2023, the state will take on compulsory medical insurance for citizens. This will require 2 billion manats annually. In the first year, 1.5 billion manat will be needed. Of these, 1.2 billion will be financed by the state, the remaining 300 thousand are insured themselves, Guliyev said. —21B06-