Parliament to discuss new health insurance bill Sunday

CAIRO – 15 December 2017: The House of Representatives will begin on Sunday discussing its Health Committee’s report on the comprehensive health insurance bill approved by the cabinet late October.

The new bill would provide complete health care for citizens who cannot afford to pay – who comprise 30-40 percent of the population.

During the last month, the health committee in Parliament held intensive meetings with the Minister of Health Ahmed Emad Al-Din and related state officials to hear the government’s view of the bill and put its report.

The government hopes that the House of Representatives will approve the bill during the current legislative session, to be applied partly in the next fiscal year (FY) 2018/2019.

The new bill would establish three new administrative bodies to manage the new system: a financing body; a healthcare body that delivers the service in primary healthcare units and hospitals; and a body that will handle accreditation of service units and providers, quality of service, and supervision of operations.

Egypt has allocated EGP 53.3 billion in the current FY 2016/2017 budget to healthcare, representing 5.7 percent of total government spending. The state spending for healthcare is seen as insufficient and far below international standards.