Govt given presidential mandate to roll out health insurance coverage in 10 years: minister

CAIRO - 29 January 2021: Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said the government has been given a presidential mandate to compress the timetable set out for implementing the Universal Health Insurance System in Egypt; so that it would be applied nationwide within 10 years instead of 15.

The finance minister, who also acts as head of the Universal Health Insurance System, noted that the system will be implemented this year in the rest of the first-phase governorates: Luxor, Aswan, Ismailia, Suez, and South Sinai, taking into account the application of state-of-the-art automated systems, and strengthening governance, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Friday.

This goes in line with the State’s strategy to gradually move towards digital Egypt, the minister said, noting that the importance of that strategy has been evident after the spread of the coronavirus pandemic with the preventive requirements it has imposed, most notably social distancing.

Meanwhile, Maait said the political leadership attaches great importance to the swift application of the Universal Health Insurance System as one of the key tools for the health sector reform in Egypt.

“President Abdel Fattah El Sisi always asks me about the availability and adequacy of financial allocations for the Universal Health Insurance [system], and affirms that the health of Egyptians is a priority,” the minister said.