Armenian health reform risks failure without urgent fixes, expert warns

Representatives of Armenia's healthcare community are calling for parliamentary hearings to address gaps and risks in the country’s universal health insurance system, warning that failure could have serious socio-economic consequences.

On Monday, they submitted formal requests to the National Assembly to hold hearings on shortcomings identified during the first two months of its rollout.

“Healthcare community members expect a constructive discussion, an inventory of the problems that have emerged over the past two months, analysis of those issues and, based on the results, adjustments and proposed solutions,” Anush Poghosyan, head of the Right to Health NGO, told reporters.

She said such steps were critical given the high public expectations surrounding the reform.

“If the reform fails, it will create serious socio-economic problems,” she said, stressing that out-of-pocket medical expenses contribute to impoverishment.

“People have placed great hopes in this system,” Poghosyan added. “When we watch the minister’s visits to medical facilities and listen to his statements, it seems as though we have Singapore-level healthcare. In reality, people in hospitals are facing very serious problems.”

According to Poghosyan, challenges have also affected healthcare workers and pharmacies, including delays in payments to doctors and late reimbursements to pharmacies.