Mohamed Maait — Minister of Finance and Chairperson of the General Authority for Comprehensive Health Insurance — said that the authority aims to invest in the stock exchange to diversify the investment portfolio and maximise the return on the invested funds.
He explained in a statement on Monday that the last FY witnessed an annual growth of 43% in the authority’s revenues, an increase in investment returns of 74%, and an increase in the surplus by 37%.
Furthermore, he said that the investment portfolio amounted to nearly EGP 50bn, stressing that continuous effort is being exerted through specialised experts to generate the highest return.
The minister also pointed out that the total funds and assets of the General Authority for Comprehensive Health Insurance at the end of June 2022 amounted to EGP 55.6bn, and the total revenues since the launch of the new system until the end of June amounted to EGP 58.5bn.
Additionally, Maait confirmed that the Authority’s performance indicators during the last FY reflect the financial sustainability needed to ensure the success of the desired goals to achieve the dream of all Egyptians in providing comprehensive health care for all members of the Egyptian family within 10 years instead of 15 years despite the global economic challenges, assuring that the authority is in good financial standing and shows promise.
Furthermore, the Decent Life Presidential Initiative helps shorten the time needed to complete the generalisation of the new system.
“Raising the efficiency of infrastructure and health facilities in the developed areas encourages us to expand geographically in various governorates. Over the next few months, we will be moving to the rest of the governorates of the first phase — which are South Sinai, Aswan, and Suez — and then the governorates of the second phase, which are Qena, the Red Sea, and Matrouh,” said Maait.
He also pointed out that the authority provided self-financed medical services with more than EGP 2bn to beneficiaries of the comprehensive health insurance system in Port Said and Luxor, and that the state’s public treasury bore about EGP 500m in subscriptions for those with low incomes.
The minister added that the comprehensive health insurance system provides promising opportunities for medical investment, as it allows the private sector to provide medical services.
The private sector is expected to provide 50% of health care services under the umbrella of the comprehensive health insurance system. Maait explained that the prices approved for contracting are attractive to the private sector and are subject to periodic updating to ensure sustainable justice.
For his part, Hossam Sadek — Executive Director of the Comprehensive Health Insurance System — said that the new system is managed in accordance with the latest international standards to ensure the sustainability of fulfilling obligations towards providing comprehensive health care to citizens with high efficiency and quality. He noted that the authority has an advanced strategy for the safe investment of universal health insurance funds that guarantees the maximum return, including investing in bonds, treasury bills, and deposits.
Sadek added that the rate of citizens’ registration in the system in Port Said exceeded 90%, and more than 1.5 million cases are received annually.
The new system covers 3,000 health services, including surgical intervention and oncology services, as well as organ transplantation and others. Sadek also noted that the new system will be applied in Luxor and Ismailia this FY.
