INTRODUCTION

There is a general apathy for insurance in Algeria and health insurance in Algeria is not an exception. However, the constitution of the country has made health care services and as well as expatriate financial planning compulsory for all citizens of the country. Despite this mandatory nature of health services in the country, it appears that it is only to the advantages of the people living in the urban areas as the rural dwellers do not have access to adequate health care services.

In most cases, those in the rural areas have to travel long distances to the cities to access good facilities for their health care. Or in the absence, make do with the local health set ups available to them.

Not minding the above, even some of the health facilities in the cities are either under staffed or lack the specialist medical personals to handle some critical illnesses.

In this piece, we shall dwell on the meaning of health insurance, its types and benefits, as well as the efforts of the Algerian government at encouraging the citizens to subscribe to health insurance.

WHAT IS HEALTH INSURANCE?

Health insurance is a class of insurance policy that provides insurance coverage for the costs of medical care. It does cover the whole or a part of the medical costs. The insurance policy requires the insurance company to pay some cost in the insurance policy of the insured’s health care expenses in exchange for a premium paid in advance.

Health insurance pays for medical, dental, surgical, prescription drug, and equally reimburses the policyholder for expenses arising from medical bills or may pay the health care provider directly depending on the agreement in the policy.

In Algeria, there is the public and private health care system.

PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM IN ALGERIA

In Algeria, all Citizens have access to the free public health care services. Also, the country’s social security system even makes it possible for expatriates to obtain free public health care services. However, their employers have to register them and thereafter deduct monthly contributions from their salaries.

PRIVATE HEALTH

There is also the private health system in Algeria. However, it is costly when compared to the public health system. Nonetheless, the private health system in Algeria maintains higher standards than the public system.

It is worthy of note that private health insurance in Algeria is not presently available and as such, expatriates are advised to purchase international health insurance plans while travelling to Algeria.

Benefits of health Insurance in Algeria

There are several benefits with buying health insurance policy in Algeria, some of these benefits includes but not limited to;

Critical illness cover: the policy offers insurance coverage for critical illnesses.
Helps to reduce the high cost of health care: the insurance policy pays for the type of health coverage it insures.
Easy cashless claims: as a result of the fact that almost all health insurance providers are connected to huge network of hospitals and other health care providers, the process of receiving emergency health care is made very smooth and easy.
Peace of mind