Mali adopted on Wednesday, June 20, at the Council of Ministers the bill establishing the Universal Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) to implement the Universal Health Cover.
According to a statement issued at the end of the council, “the institution of the universal health insurance scheme aims to defragment the existing health risk coverage mechanisms in order to offer the entire population of Mali a regime of single health insurance that will cover all social categories through more appropriate mechanisms “.
The government explains in the document that “the implementation of the RAMU comes into effect following the evaluation of the establishment, for several years, of the compulsory health insurance (AMO), to which are added the medical insurance, as well as the mutual health insurance which, according to official statistics, has allowed to cover about 2.2 million people out of a little more than 18 million, or 12% of the total population “.
“This coverage remains low because of the fragmentation of mechanisms and the disparity of services covered,” the source said.
According to the authorities, “it is in the sense of widening coverage that since 2015, the country has engaged in consultations and benchmarking for the implementation of the RAMU, a new regime based on the principle of solidarity, contribution, the pooling of resources and risks and the third-party payment which gives the right to the direct payment of curative, preventive and medical rehabilitation costs required by the state of health or the maternity of the beneficiaries “.
“The institution of the universal health insurance scheme is part of the achievement of the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘s sustainable development goals in terms of health coverage,” the government said in the statement.
The bill will be based on three complementary mechanisms: AMO; the Medical Assistance Plan (RAMED); and mutual health insurance.
These mechanisms will also be supplemented by other specific schemes for free access granted to certain socio-occupational groups.
