“At the moment, we have no time frames for the introduction,” Deputy Health Minister Artak Jumayan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian announced in January that the gradual process will start in July. She said the mandatory insurance plan will initially cover medical costs for underage and disabled citizens and several other vulnerable groups of people who are already eligible for many free services. It will be extended to pensioners and public sector employees in 2025 and the country’s entire population in 2027, she said.
Avanesian admitted in June that the long-awaited healthcare reform has been delayed again. She said that the Armenian parliament will debate this fall a relevant bill drafted by the Health Ministry.
Jumayan’s comments suggest that this this will not happen either. The bill is still being scrutinized by other government agencies, Avanesian’s deputy said, adding that the health insurance plan needs to be based on “clearer financial and other calculations.”
A reform “concept” approved by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government last year calls for a special tax that will cover the cost of surgeries and other essential medical services. According to the Health Ministry’s preliminary estimates, every working citizen would have to pay 164,000 drams ($420) annually.
Armenuhi Kyureghian, an opposition member of the Armenian parliament committee on healthcare and social affairs, claimed that Avanesian has once again “deceived the government, the National Assembly and ultimately the public.” She said at the same time that this is yet another example of Pashinian and his political team not honoring their pledges.
“This is the norm for them,” Kyureghian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Avanesian’s ministry had already attempted to introduce such a system in early 2022. Pashinian’s government put those plans on hold a few months later.
Armenia’s former governments too had promised health insurance for all citizens. But they eventually backed away in the face of financial difficulties.