ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 2.5 million Iraqis are now covered by the national health insurance system, the health minister said on Friday, according to state media.
“More than two and a half million citizens have become covered under the health insurance system,” Health Minister Saleh Mahdi al-Hasnawi said at a conference in Cairo, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Hasnawi said the insurance system was adopted because increasing financial pressure, advances in medical technology, rising drug prices, and expanding health services “posed a challenge to the health ministry, which required implementing the health insurance law to reduce the financial burden on citizens.”
The program operates under Health Insurance Law No. 22 of 2020, which came into effect at the end of 2023 and is being rolled out in four phases. The law mandates health insurance for government employees and foreign residents, funded by salary-based premiums and employer contributions. The Health Insurance Authority will contract with both public and private healthcare providers.
The rollout is entering its final phase. The minister said the first phase covered Baghdad, the second phase focused on nine other provinces, the third phase expanded the coverage and number of beneficiaries, while the fourth and final phase will extend coverage to all provinces.
Under the program, 285 types of surgeries, 40 types of medical consultations, and all types of medical tests will be covered.
Coverage will also apply to people registered with the Ministry of Labor, including government employees and retirees, and unemployed persons. Premiums will range from 10,000 to 100,000 Iraqi dinars (about $7.64 to $76.40) and will be free for people with low incomes and the unemployed.
“Health services in Iraq were provided at nominal prices not exceeding one dollar or one and a half dollars in health institutions, despite the fact that the cost of some operations exceeds thousands of dollars,” the minister said.
“All basic services and healthcare, including maternal and child care, vaccinations, and school health, are covered by the ministry 100 percent even for citizens not covered by health insurance,” he added.
The Kurdistan Region will be included in the national health insurance program by 2028, Ali Obaid, director-general of the Iraqi Health Insurance Authority, told Rudaw in September.