Resumption of health insurance services in Syria after a several-month hiatus.

The "Regulatory Authority for Insurance and Reinsurance Business in Syria" has announced the resumption of providing health insurance services to all sectors after a several-month hiatus.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the Authority stated that the services included the economic and administrative sectors (government employees), in addition to the private sector.

The Authority confirmed the start of settling the dues of medical service providers, ensuring the continuity of providing health services efficiently and with high quality, noting that these dues will be paid by January 31, 2025.

It is worth mentioning that the Authority had announced on March 6th the resumption of health insurance services for the private sector, in addition to covering critical medical cases in the public sector, such as chronic medications, emergency hospital admissions, cardiac treatments, childbirth, and cancer treatments through the Syrian Public Authority for Insurance.

The annual report of the supervisory authority on insurance issued in May of last year revealed that the percentage of Syrians covered by health insurance in various sectors did not exceed 5% of the total population, with around 927,000 insured individuals, of whom 64% benefited from the provided services, reaching 3.2 million medical services.

In this context, Kanana Sharaf, the head of the Health Insurance Department at the Authority, explained that this low percentage indicates the need to expand the insurance umbrella, especially in the private sector.

Sharaf also pointed out that the increase in insurance claims to around 145 billion Syrian pounds, with a growth of 95%, is attributed to "the inflation of medical service costs inside and outside hospitals," highlighting the importance of health insurance in alleviating the financial burdens on citizens.

It is worth noting that the health insurance sector in Syria faces significant challenges, most notably the difficulty for citizens to obtain comprehensive health coverage due to the high prices of medications, especially essential ones, leading insurance companies to reduce the insurance coverage ceiling due to the decrease in tariff values with the deterioration of the Syrian pound value.