Free health care for children ages 0-18 will not cause additional problems in medical institutions. Head of the contracting department of the healthcare agency Hayastan Hakobyan spoke about this with reporters. She said that free medical care was provided to children between 0-7 years old and for children between 7-18 years old who were socially vulnerable and parts special groups in the past. The government’s decision was envisaged by the Ministry’s mid-term expenditure plan and was scheduled to start in 2020. “But as a result of the political will of the government, it will start this year.”
Hakobyan assured that children ages 0-18 can receive all types of healthcare services, including the use of hard-to-reach, new, and expensive technologies for the heart.
Regarding burdens placed upon the medical staff, Hakobyan said that the treatment is paid for by the state and the doctors do not need to worry about their salaries because the prices for children’s medical care and the state’s compensation for a single case is high in the market.
Lilit Chitchyan, an expert from the Armenian delegation of Save the Children International, expressed concern about whether this decision would cause a decrease in the quality of medical services due to the potentially large number of patients.
In response to the question, Hayastan Hakobyan assured that there will not be such a problem. She also said that the prices are competitive and are close to market prices. “The children’s neurological department at Saint Mary’s Clinic will be equipped with the latest technology and this is within the framework of the 12.3 billion AMD program. In the past, an individual could not be a part of a vulnerable social group, but they could also not pay for services. This meant that they could not use different types of healthcare. Now, the program beneficiaries can receive all kinds of medical care.”
Nelly Babayan
