Tanzania Compulsory Health Insurance Plan

Tanzania's Ministry of Health has proposed a compulsory national healthinsurance scheme for all fully-employed citizens. According to Reuters, the Ministry said it was designing the scheme for employees in the "formal sector," although initially it would only cover state workers.

Formal workers are defined as anybody engaged in full-time employment for a continuous period of 285 days. The proposed scheme will start with civil servants, since their medical entitlement with the introduction of cost-sharing in government health facilities has not been very clear, according to a Ministry statement.

The insurance plan will be financed by a flat 7% contribution, with 3.5% coming from the employer and 3.5% matched by the employee through the payroll before taxes. The benefits of Tanzania's first national health scheme will include drugs for in-patient care, payment of hospital accommodation and out-patient care.