President Endorses Universal Health Insurance Plan in Benin
Health Systems 20/20: On the heels of the launch of Benin’s first universal health insurance plan, Régime d’assurance maladie universelle (RAMU), Health Systems 20/20 was asked to join partners in advising the RAMU implementation strategy and identifying opportunities for USAID-led technical assistance. The landmark policy, launched by President Thomas Boni Yayi in December, will increase access to lifesaving health care for people in Benin, 37 percent of who live in poverty.
The Benin Cabinet decided to develop a universal health coverage plan in May 2008, but struggled to implement the plan. In June 2010, representatives from Benin’s Ministry of Health (MOH) attended a health insurance workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, designed and delivered by Health Systems 20/20.
During the workshop, the Benin team developed a vision and action plan for how their country would expand health insurance coverage, giving them the knowledge and impetus to move forward with a universal health coverage proposal. The Benin team gained the skills to design an institutional framework for RAMU and learned how to engage national stakeholders from the first stages of policy development.
“We used the action plan we developed and what we learned from the Health Systems 20/20 health insurance workshop to galvanize our team at the MOH. Once we returned to Benin, we finalized a feasibility study and submitted our universal health coverage proposal to the Cabinet for approval,” said Mr. Hugues Tchibozo, the RAMU focal point at the Benin MOH.
The MOH expects RAMU coverage to be available in April 2012 once legislation and implementation plans are finalized. Insurance coverage will be open to all formal and informal sector workers. Monthly premiums are estimated to range from $3 to $30 per month. Proposed benefits cover primary care, hospitalization, pharmaceuticals, lab tests, mandatory vaccines, and pre- and postnatal care for expecting mothers.
This health sector development complements the government’s long-term strategic vision for 2025. “Benin is going to lay out in 2025, a functioning health system based on public and private initiatives…for the supply and permanent availability of quality care, equitable and accessible care to people of all types, based on the values of solidarity and risk sharing to meet all health needs of the people of Benin,” Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA representative, told the World Health Organization.
According to a study conducted by the International Labour Organization in 2000, only 5 percent of the economically active population in Benin had health care coverage. Out-of-pocket health spending in Benin was reported in 2007 at 40 percent of total health expenditures. The RAMU is a historic step forward that will expand health insurance coverage and access to critical health care services across Benin.