According to the document, the allocations of the RA Ministry of Health for 2025 will amount to AMD 162.99 billion. At the same time, AMD 5.3 billion or 3.1% less than in the current year are planned for current expenses. “Unfortunately, the fiscal capacity of the RA at this stage does not allow us to meet the entire volume of the request we submitted”, noted the head of the Ministry of Health Anahit Avanesyan.
On February 2, 2023, the Armenian Cabinet approved the Concept on implementation of Universal Health Insurance (UHI) proposed by the Ministry of Health, according to which implementation of the system was planned for the next 4 years. 2023 was considered as preparatory year, and 2024-2026 as a testing period with full implementation of UHI in 2027. According to the plan, the implementation stage of the system was to begin in July of this year. However, the law “On Comprehensive Health Insurance” has not yet been adopted, which, according to the adviser to the Minister of Health of Armenia, is mainly due to determination of the state treasury’s ability to fully subsidize insurance premiums of the first group of beneficiaries already in 2024.
According to him, practical implementation of the UHI will be postponed until the beginning of 2025. The preliminary estimates show that from 2027, when hired workers will also be included in the UHI system, the state will need about AMD 260-270 billion (~EUR 0.64 billion) to finance subsidies for insurance premiums.
“We are currently discussing in the government whether the budget will allow us to launch the first stage in 2025, or whether we will launch it in 2026”, the head of the Ministry of Health noted.
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