Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 23 /Trend, Y.Ismayilov, E.Ismayilov/
Compulsory health insurance in Azerbaijan is planned to be introduced in 2011, deputy head of the parliamentary committee on social policy, MP Hadi Rajabli told Trend. "The reason for the delay in the introduction of a new type of compulsory insurance is the lack of a mechanism," said Rajabli.
According to him, the law on compulsory health insurance in Azerbaijan was adopted in 1999, but in order to simplify the tax burden, its introduction delayed for five years, and later, other reasons appeared for the postponement.
"In Azerbaijan there are two types of financing health care services - from personal funds and budget. The list of sources of funding will extend for two more - at the expense of compulsory medical insurance and funds of charitable and religious institutions," said Rajabli.
In December 2009 the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan established an Agency for compulsory health insurance. Creating the health insurance system is part of health system reforms, improving the quality of medical services. Annually the Public budget allocates funds for the implementation of this system. System testing took place in Siyazan district, which was chosen as a pilot.
Social Protection Fund of Azerbaijan earlier suggested its involvement in collecting funds for medical insurance, given the experience of the accumulation of contributions for compulsory social insurance, but after the decision by the President, the funds will be accumulated by the Agency.
The exact percentage of transfers from population's income will be specified after the completion of preparatory work. "Most likely, these payments will be about 2.5-3 percent of the salary fund, taking into account the experience of countries where the compulsory health insurance is introduced," said Rajabli.