Gov’t to contribute up to 4.5 per cent to SSC health insurance

AMMAN — The government will contribute between 2 and 4.5 per cent of Social Security Corporation (SSC) subscribers’ salaries to help fund the corporation’s plan to provide health insurance, the SSC said on Saturday.  

SSC Director General Nadia Rawabdeh said in a statement on Saturday that the proposed health insurance plan, which is currently being reviewed, will cover all subscribers and their family members who are not covered by health insurance that is accredited by the corporation.

SSC law includes a provision for health insurance, for which subscribers and their employers must pay dues, said SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi, noting that the government was not obliged to contribute.  

“Yet, the government is very serious about making this contribution in order to expand the health insurance umbrella and to encourage employers to address their social and legal responsibilities,” Sbeihi told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

The plan, which is expected to go into effect in 2017, is currently under deliberation with employers, he added, noting that some employers were not supportive of the move as it requires them to pay additional dues.

“Providing health insurance for workers enhances the labour market’s stability and encourages citizens to join the private sector,” Sbeihi said, citing small enterprises and micro businesses as the main target. 

These institutions either do not provide health insurance to their employees at all or they offer poor coverage, according to the official, who explained that the SSC seeks to set a standard for “acceptable” health insurance to match the coverage offered to public sector employees.  

The intended plan, which will be compulsory if it goes into effect, offers three options for health insurance.

Under the first option, insurance would only cover treatment in public hospitals and health centres for a 10 per cent deduction of the subscriber’s monthly salary. The employer would commit to 5 per cent and the government would contribute 2 per cent. 

The remaining 3 per cent would be deducted from the worker’s salary, an amount that should not exceed JD30 and is linked to annual inflation rates.

Under the second option, the beneficiary is entitled to receive treatment at public facilities, but private hospitals could also provide services at prices agreed with the Health Ministry. Subscription rates in the second option are similar to those in the first.

The third option offers treatment in public and private facilities, as well as Royal Medical Services’ hospitals and centres.

Under this option, the subscription fee is 13.5 per cent of the worker’s monthly salary, whereby the employer commits to 6 per cent and the government covers 4.5 per cent.

The subscriber, under the third option, should pay 3 per cent of his or her salary, up to JD50, and the contribution would be linked to annual inflation rates.

Sbeihi said the third option, which allows treatment at private hospitals, is “the most appropriate”, as public hospitals are already crowded, noting that expanding health insurance would reduce exemptions issued by the Health Ministry and the Royal Court. 

“Current discussions with employers are open to other suggestions,” he said, and the option agreed upon will be applied to all SSC subscribers and pensioners. 

In previous remarks, Rawabdeh said 27 per cent of Jordanians were not covered by health insurance, while 87 per cent of non-Jordanians residing in Jordan had no coverage.