Aasandha Health Insurance Scheme in deficit, expenses may reach Mrf 1 billion by year end-Thoriq
Aasandha Health Insurance Scheme in deficit, expenses may reach Mrf 1 billion by year end, says Aasandha Chairman Thorig Ali Luthufee.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Thorig expressed concern over the sustainability of the Scheme without improving the controls within the Scheme. He reported that that over 65% of Aasandha payments in this quarter had gone to outpatient care.
Thorig noted that the scheme was not being uitlized as a medical insurance scheme, and that the scheme did not have the standard controls that medical insurance schemes have in place as best practice.
Thorig reported that the initial budget for Aasandha (Mrf 520 m) was an underestimate, the projected year end cost was nearly Mrf 1 billion, and that the law required that the deficit be paid by the Finance Ministry. He reported that, despite there being no epidemic or pandemic outbreak in the Maldives, 50% of the population had availed themselves of Aasandha services within just 3 months of its operation, and that the majority of these services had been availed from private clinics and not government hospitals.
Earlier this week, the Cabinet had passed a resolution to provide Aasandha cover through private clinics too. Thorig estimated that this could be done by end May, stating that preparatory work needed to be done before the scheme could be widened on an equitable basis. Chair of the Parliamentary Committee, MP Ahmed Nazim, noted that even the IMF Review Mission in Maldives presently, had expressed concern about the sustainability of Aasandha. MP Nazim requested Aasandha to speed up its expansion to private clinics, and to send all required legal amendments to the Parliament as soon as possible.