The ministries of finance and health and the General Authority for Health Insurance resumed discussions on the new comprehensive social health insurance law, as the committee charged with the formulation of the new law held a meeting yesterday to decide on its final version.
The government plans to submit the drafted legislation to parliament in its upcoming session.
A government source said several options for financing the project are being examined since the project requires at least LE7 billion in funds during the first two years of its implementation.
The same source said that the new health insurance system will not be financed through additional taxes on tobacco and cigarettes.
The new system will gradually replace the state-financed medical care program and should overcome the defects of the existing health insurance system, which leaves a considerable percentage of people uninsured, added the source.
Another disadvantage of the current system, according to the source, is that 65 percent of the money used to finance it comes from the beneficiaries themselves.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
