The new tariffs for 300 medical services will soon be in place. The head of Iran’s Health Insurance said the scheme has been designed according to people’s needs and “tight controls will be put in place to ensure the new tariffs are upheld.”
Dr. Anooshravan Mohseni added: “in future all medical services will come with a standard price tag and a clinical guide,” reports ISNA.
Saying that insurance booklets had lost much of their real significance in recent years, Mohseni called for ‘’costly burdens’’ to be reduced for people in healthcare.
He regretted that previous governments, when faced with budget deficit, made healthcare their first target of budget cuts, but said its status is favorable now under President Hassan Rouhani as special emphasis has been laid on the health system.
Landmark
Mohseni stated that the deal struck between the health ministry, insurance companies and the medical council was a landmark achievement that led to raising the rate of medical tariffs by up to 44%.
The new tariff system took over 5 months to compile after several meetings with insurance companies and other related organizations. Mohseni hoped that the tariff scheme would eliminate “all acts of venality once and for all.” These initiatives are all part of the Health Reform Plan, which has been launched from May this year.
Coverage
He also noted that health experts have the opportunity to study ways to improve health care, making universal insurance coverage-which is a constitutional right - a reality. He added that prior to this, 30% to 35% of the people living in slums lacked coverage.
Mohseni said so far, 7.5 million people have enrolled in the Health Insurance System and of these, 6.5 million have received their insurance booklets.
Many of the insured are from deprived areas. Nearly 120,000 health insurance booklets have been issued in Sistan -Baluchestan Province. Under the Basic Healthcare Services for Villagers, it is aimed to improve healthcare access in rural areas by expanding insurance coverage.
