ArmInfo. A system of compulsory health insurance will be introduced in Armenia, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on August 18 during a government meeting, presenting the government's program for the next 5 years.
According to him, significant changes have been made in the healthcare sector in recent years. "Nevertheless, now the government has reached the point where radical reforms are needed. We must show political will and introduce an insurance program in the healthcare system in Armenia. I have to say that, in fact, we have already decided on the content of the program. A lot of work has been done in this direction, and in the near future we should be able to implement the planned programs, "he said.
To recall, back in 2019, the Ministry of Health of Armenia proposed to introduce a tax of 4-6% on wages for health insurance from 2022. According to the rationale for the document, the development of the concept is due to the need to ensure the availability of high-quality and timely medical services for all citizens of the republic, regardless of gender, age, place of residence and social status. Today, as the authors of the document noted, the low level of financial affordability has led to an incomplete workload of medical institutions. "Due to financial problems, about 20.1% of the population does not visit primary care doctors. The lack of financial resources hinders the development of the system and the improvement of the quality of medical services, contributes to the impoverishment of families due to catastrophic health care costs," the document said. Thus, in 9% of the population more than 25% of consumer spending is directed to health care, as a result of which about 6% of them "slide" into impoverishment, which is the highest indicator in the region. According to the authors of the project, the introduction of health insurance system promises an increase in income not only for medical organizations, but also for the state treasury. Meanwhile, this project of the Ministry of Health became the topic of heated discussions, and was criticized not only by experts, but also by ordinary citizens, who pointed to too high a percentage of the "health tax". In particular, the state structure, which is entrusted with the implementation of the country's tax policy, the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, opposed the initiative in the form in which it was proposed by the Ministry of Health. As then head of the Ministry of Finance Atom Janjughazyan stated in December 2019, explaining the negative position of the financial authorities of the country, in particular the Ministry of Finance, regarding the "health tax" proposed by the Ministry of Health, it turns out that, on the one hand, the financial authorities of the country declared their readiness to increase the competitiveness of the republic, in particular, by reducing income tax and income tax, on the other, in fact, we create an additional tax burden for business. "The logic of reducing direct taxes pursues the goal of forming working capital for business for new investments, forming new potential and generating additional results," the minister said. As Janjughazyzn pointed out, despite the fact that many people say that the proposed "health tax" is an additional burden for the employee, in fact it will be placed on the shoulders of the country's economy. The same employee, according to the minister, can invest the free funds following the reduction of income tax in the development of the capital market in Armenia and the formation of additional potential in this direction.
As Janjughazyan emphasized then, the majority of the country's citizens are dissatisfied with the project. When asked whether the Ministry of Finance has a preferred threshold for the health tax, the head of the department replied: "The preferred threshold of the Ministry of Finance is zero. The question is not in size, but in direction." Thus, according to Janjughazyan, the ministry is not sure that the path proposed by the Ministry of Health will be painless and lead to the desired result. According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, the issue requires additional study.
We add that there is a law on insurance and insurance activities in Armenia, within the framework of which voluntary medical insurance is carried out in the republic, to which 1.5% of total health care costs are allocated. To stimulate the voluntary health insurance system, the tax code provides for benefits to organizations that insure the health of their employees - within the 120 thousand AMD package, they can present this amount as justified expenses, thereby reducing the taxable base for income tax.