‘55% of population, 68% of Jordanians covered by health insurance’

AMMAN — Sixty-eight per cent of Jordanians and 55 per cent of the Kingdom’s overall population, including children under six years old, are covered by various types of health insurance, according to the latest population census.

Around 312,000 children benefit from a Royal Decree that provides all children under the age of six with free healthcare services. 

Excluding these children, the  health insurance coverage rates drops to 63 per cent among Jordanians and to 52 per cent among the entire population.

Results of the latest census showed that the Kingdom’s population stands at around 9.5 million, including 2.9 million guests, representing 30.6 per cent of the overall population.  

A recently issued Department of Statistics (DoS) report reviews the main results of the 2015 population census and presents information in a number of fields, including population size and demographics, health, education, economic participation, disabilities and marital status. 

The study of health insurance coverage rates seeks to evaluate duplication in health insurance as well as the burden the government bears due to covering non-Jordanians’ healthcare, according to DoS. 

It also aims at measuring health insurance coverage rates among all residents and identifying demographic information on those covered and not covered.   

Nine of out every 10 Jordanians in Tafileh and Karak governorates are covered by health insurance, mostly public or military health insurance, while 6 in every 10 Jordanians in Amman and Zarqa are covered by health insurance, the report said.

Health insurance coverage rates among Jordanian females reached around 65 per cent, while the coverage rate among their male counterparts was around 63 per cent, according to the report.

Ministry of Health insurance covers 41.7 per cent of Jordanians, followed by the Royal Medical Services (38 per cent) and private insurance firms (12.4 per cent). 

The remaining coverage is provided by university hospitals, UNRWA, international insurance, and other sources.

Around a quarter of non-Jordanians are covered by medical insurance, with over 60 per cent of those living in Jerash Governorate covered, followed by around 59 per cent of the non-Jordanian residents of Mafraq Governorate. 

The report suggests a relationship between the mentioned coverage rates for non-Jordanians and the presence of the Gaza Refugee Camp, which hosts some 20,000 Palestinian refugees, and the Zaatari Refugee Camp, which is home to some 80,000 Syrian refugees, in Jerash and Mafraq respectively.