The final draft of a comprehensive health insurance bill will be completed within the next two weeks to be ratified during the next parliamentary, a senior health official has revealed. The official, who asked not to be named, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the "approval of the final draft of the bill will be completed in a high level government meeting that will address the actual costs of the program, with regards to infrastructure and operation of the health care system.” “A pilot experiment has been rolled out in the Suez governorate, then in Alexandria and Sohag," the official said. He added that Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Health Minister Hatem al-Gabaly, Minister of Social Solidarity Ali al-Moselhy and Minister of Regional Development Abdel Salem Mahgoub will all be present at the meeting. During the meeting, according to the official, the ministers will review the results of the actuarial studies in light of the proposed subscription plan to be submitted to the Finance Ministry. The official, however, declined to identify the funding sources of the proposed bill. Al-Gabaly told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the current plan suffers from a funding gap of seven billion pounds, adding that it's up to the Finance Ministry to finalize how to fund the new system in a way that will be sustainable in the future. He added that about 65 percent of health expenditure currently comes directly from individuals' pockets, and this is one of the things the new system strives to correct.
