Health Minister: 5 Trillion Toman Insurance Debt Delays Doctors' Bonuses

The Iranian Minister of Health states that the debt of '4 to 5 trillion tomans' owed by insurance companies to the Ministry of Health has caused a six-month delay in the payment of doctors' bonuses, with some not receiving bonuses since December 2014. On Tuesday, August 4, Hassan Hashemi emphasized in an interview with the state news agency IRNA that this year not a single rial has been paid from the Ministry of Health's budget from value-added tax and targeted subsidies. Previously, officials from the Ministry of Health have repeatedly criticized the delays in insurance companies' payments to hospitals. Meanwhile, Iraj Harirchi, the Deputy Minister of Health, stated in June that by the end of 2014, about 40% of hospitals' claims from insurance companies, amounting to approximately 3.35 trillion tomans, had not been paid. However, Taghi Nourbakhsh, the head of the Social Security Organization, claimed that the debt of insurance companies to hospitals being up to four months is 'completely normal.' Additionally, according to Mohammad Ali Hemmati, the deputy of the Social Security Organization, after the implementation of the 'Health Transformation Plan,' the payments from insurance organizations have increased by 100% and have placed a 'heavy burden' on this organization. Hemmati stated that to implement this plan in 2015, the Social Security Organization needs a budget of 3.2 trillion tomans. The 'Health Transformation Plan' began on May 4, 2014, aiming to reduce payments and improve the quality of outpatient services and patient care in hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health. Previously, President Hassan Rouhani had stated that the implementation of this plan would initially reduce treatment costs for people by 10%. Meanwhile, the Minister of Health emphasized on Tuesday that despite the 'difficult financial conditions' of this ministry, the implementation of the 'Health Transformation Plan' continues and this ministry 'avoids entering into side issues.' Hashemi also mentioned that all heads of medical universities have been 'prohibited from entering side issues.' The Minister did not specify what he referred to as these 'side issues.' This comes as some members of parliament have previously criticized the implementation of the 'Health Transformation Plan.' Hashemi's comments about the non-payment of the Ministry of Health's share from targeted subsidy revenues come at a time when the government, according to the budget law, is required to pay a portion of the income from the cut subsidies to the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, according to the 2014 budget law, the government was supposed to pay 4.8 trillion tomans to achieve 'health equity indicators and reduce direct costs for people.' However, according to the report from the Parliament's Program and Budget Commission, in the first six months of last year, only 1.44 trillion tomans, equivalent to 30% of the approved budget, was paid. The Program and Budget Commission stated that in the same period in 2013, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, no amount was paid in this regard. In this context, the Ministry of Health has a budget deficit of '6 trillion tomans.'