Society benefits from Government healthcare program

Almost half a million of the country’s most deserving people are being offered additional help in the Government-led health insurance program.

From September 1, all pensioners, young children, students and people with disabilities will experience shorter waiting times for operations under the Government’s universal healthcare insurance scheme.

It is believed about 400,000 people across the country will benefit from the changes, which came into effect on September 1, 2014.

The program, which launched in February, last year, was open to all non-insured individuals who lived in Georgia.

Georgia’s Deputy of Health Minister Zaza Sopromadze spoke about the two changes on September 2.

"From the beginning of September medical aid for pensioners, children less than five years of age, students and persons with disabilities will be administered by the state instead of private insurance companies,” Deputy of Health Minister Zaza Sopromadze said.

For the group of people mentioned above, the general waiting time for planned surgeries would decrease from four months to two months, Sopromadze said.

The second change would see those recipients have the freedom to choose which clinic they prefer to be treated at.

"This means they are able to receive medical care not only at clinics prescribed by private insurance companies,” Sopromadze said.

The Deputy Health Minister noted people were able to apply for the new service at health insurance offices throughout Georgia.

The universal healthcare program launched in February 2013, and since then it had made state-sponsored health insurance available on a massive scale, Sopromadze said.

Ministry figures showed since the insurance program was introduced, it had funded various treatments of 383,707 individuals, including emergency out-patient (229,480), emergency in-patient (81,495), planned in-patient (27,030), cardiac surgery (1,107), chemotherapy, hormonal and radiation therapy (12,308) and deliveries (31,867). (Agenda.ge)