Towards Universal Health Coverage in the Arab Region: A First Look – Subsidized Health Insurance for the Hard-to-Reach is an ESCWA background paper published in 2022. It examines how subsidized health insurance can extend coverage to vulnerable and informal workers while reducing the financial burden of healthcare.
Key insights:
Arab countries spend an average of 5.3% of GDP on health, below the global average of 8.2%.
Public health spending represents only 8.5% of government expenditure in the region, indicating that health remains a limited budget priority.
Pooled financing increased from 64% of health spending in 2000 to 69% in 2018, but remained below the global average of 78%.
Existing subsidized schemes often have fragmented risk pools, limited benefit packages and high co-payments.
Voluntary enrolment and complex procedures can prevent poor and informal workers from accessing coverage.
Free care or partial subsidies alone are insufficient without effective targeting, monitoring and sustainable funding.
The report recommends greater public spending, stronger pooling, active enrolment of vulnerable groups and standardized benefits with lower out-of-pocket costs.