The Iran Health Insurance Organization (IHIO) and the Health Ministry signed a letter of understanding recently to provide quality primary care to rural inhabitants, nomads and residents of towns with less than 20,000 people.
Allocating more funds for prevention and treatment of ailment in rural and small towns, sending medical teams, and expanding the coverage of primary health insurance are among the priorities of the Health Reforms Plan launched in May 2014, Mohammad Javad Kabir, managing director of IHIO, told ISNA.
He said, “Article 4 of the 20-point healthcare package envisages that 34% of insurance density would be assigned to general medicine,14% to medications, 7% to dental care (especially for pregnant women and children aged 0-14), 10% to recruitment of obstetricians and other professionals and 11% to prepare new healthcare facilities or upgrade the existing ones.”
Accommodation for physicians and other care providers is also envisaged.
Further, medical tariffs have been fixed and proponents say the implementation of the plan has so far reduced “out of pocket payment to 10%.”
The tariffs include 17 cents (5,000 rials) for a visit to a physician and 13 cents for visiting an obstetrician. Also, patients pay 30% of the cost of drugs, 15% of the preclinical fees and 10% of the supplementary care expenses. The package envisages “zero deductibles” on dental services, which means the insured person will not pay anything.
