Universal healthcare program promises improved services to beneficiaries
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Georgia’s universal healthcare program will offer improved services and medical support to its beneficiaries, Georgian Minister of Health Davit Sergeenko said today.
Introducing updates to the country-wide program, Sergeenko said target groups have been classified to ensure a more effective and qualitative use of the services under the state program.
The six target groups based on the new classification are:
- Socially vulnerable (those whose socioeconomic index is below the limit established by the Government of Georgia), pensioners, people with disabilities, children between 0-5, students and teachers.
- High income citizens with more than 40,000 GEL annual salary (around 32,000 people).
- Middle-income citizens with less than 40,000 GEL annual salary (around 300,000 people)
- Low-income, self-employed and/or those who have irregular income (around 1,200,000 people).
- Socially vulnerable people with 70,000 to 100,000 scores (those who have limited financial resources but cannot afford medical services – 102,000 people)
- Adults between 6-18 (around 500,000 people)
Despite the ongoing changes, Sergeenko said child delivery will be financed for all the six target groups. Slight changes will apply to the treatment of cancerous diseases.
Georgian Minister of Health Davit Sergeenko introduces the changes to the universal healthcare program. Photo by Minister's press office
It was back in 2013 when the Government of Georgia launched the Universal Healthcare Program aimed at satisfying the needs of those who could not afford private insurance.
Under the program, Georgian citizens could apply for six major blocks of medical services, such as the extended service of primary healthcare, urgent outpatient assistance, extended urgent hospitalization, planned surgeries, child delivery, and treatment of oncologic diseases.
The proposed changes to the universal healthcare program will enter into force as soon as the Government of Georgia approves it at the Government Meeting.
Higher quality, better support for Georgian public
Georgia's Ministry of Health is launching the second stage of the healthcare reform to ensure healthcare services in Georgia are of a higher quality, are more affordable, more accessible and offer greater support to those who really need it.
One of Georgia's most successful Government-led initiatives, the Universal Healthcare Program, will continue operating to benefit thousands more people living in the country.
Village doctors, Hepatitis C Program, maternal and child health, infrastructural projects are the most important achievements of the Health Ministry throughout the last two years according to the Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs David Sergeenko.
Almost half a million of the country’s most deserving people are being offered additional help in the Government-led health insurance program.
Secretary General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has given a positive assessment to Georgian health reforms, as well as the efforts of the Georgian government to reduce prices on medicines and bring pharmacological production in line with high standards.
Fifty-six small clinics which have provided medical services for about 90,000 people in total will no longer be involved in the state healthcare programme, deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia says. Each of the 56 clinics had less than 7,000 beneficiaries. Only medical facilities which have 7,000 and more beneficiaries and whose locations are ‘critically important’ will be included.