Government Includes Five Income Deciles in Free Insurance; Health Network: We Lack Service Capacity

The government, following insistence on covering uninsured individuals, has added two more income deciles to the free health insurance plan, prompting the health network to raise concerns that "we cannot provide services to these individuals." According to the newspaper 'Shargh', previously three income deciles were eligible for free insurance, and in this phase, two additional deciles have been included. Bahram Einollahi, the Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, announced on July 24 that the fourth and fifth income deciles have been added to the population covered by free health insurance in the country. The newspaper describes that in the first phase of this plan, laboratory systems suffered from wear and tear due to unnecessary tests, healthcare staff became exhausted, hospital budgets were spent on repairing imaging devices, and ultimately, the lost budgets were covered through the salaries of doctors, nurses, and staff. The newspaper further emphasizes that adding two more deciles to the free insurance plan has revived an old nightmare. The author stresses that a second wave of unnecessary visits to public centers is on the way, along with a second wave of budget deficits and further encroachment on the rights of healthcare staff. According to the Minister of Health, with the addition of the fourth and fifth deciles to the population of free insured individuals, 12.5 million people in these deciles will now receive free health insurance. Families of hemophilia patients have criticized the import of expensive drugs and the government's 'playing' with their children's lives. Insurance support for thalassemia patients in Iran has 'declined.' The ongoing treatment crisis in Iran has led to a request for a '40% increase' in medical tariffs. The persistent drug shortage crisis in Iran has been highlighted by the head of the Food and Drug Organization, stating that the problem of drug supply is liquidity.