SSC says it has ‘not given up’ on social health insurance proposal

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) on Wednesday said that the establishment has “not given up” on the social health insurance proposal that was dropped from the draft Social Security Law for 2022 during Cabinet discussions last month.

The health insurance proposal was introduced to the draft law last year, gaining SSC board approval in August 2021 after which it was sent to the Cabinet for examination.

In December, the Cabinet approved the draft law, but removed the proposal on social health insurance.

The social health protection clause was taken out of the draft law for further consideration and study, said Shaman Majali, legal adviser and SSC spokesperson.

“The SSC intends to examine the proposed health system, and might introduce a new draft or adjust the current proposal,” Majali told The Jordan Times.

The SSC spokesperson stressed that this was the message conveyed by the SSC Director General Mohammad Tarawneh during recent meetings with members of the Lower House of Parliament and the Social Security Retirees Society.  

The scrapped health system proposal was meant to “cover retired citizens who do not have any health insurance, or individuals who work in the private sector and do not have insurance coverage,” according to Majali.

“The number of people benefiting from the SSC is around 1.45 million, including 1.2 million who will benefit from the new health system,” he said.

The draft health law stipulates that “the social health insurance will either by managed by the SSC, or via the insurance companies”, according to Majali.

Former SSC Director-General Hazem Rahahleh has stressed in recent interviews that social health insurance is intended to complement the work of insurance companies.

Health insurance is the main pillar of the proposed amendments to the Social Security Law, Rahahleh said.

He also noted that the health insurance will include subscribers working in private sector institutions and retirees who do not have a health insurance. The insurance will cover all members of the family with a deductible of 5 per cent of subscribers’ salaries, he added.

In this regard, Rahahleh said, 4 per cent will be deducted for treatment at private hospitals, and 1 per cent will be used to cover expenses at the King Hussein Cancer Centre.

Economists welcomed the Cabinet’s decision to cancel the health insurance proposal, arguing that “the government must take full responsibility in cooperating with the relevant partners to design a national health insurance within the SSC system”.

The government, workers and the private sector will have to equally share the cost of this insurance system so that it will be fair to all, and at the same time, provide quality service, according to the experts.