Some 50,000 pensioners aged 65 and over received medical services  under universal health insurance system - premier

ArmInfo. As of January 29, 50,073 pensioners aged 65 and older received medical services under the universal health insurance system, funded by the state budget in the amount of 4.3 billion drams. This was announced by Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on his Facebook page.  However, the Prime Minister did not provide data for the same period last year, namely, how many pensioners received medical care under  the state order in effect at that time and whether there was, therefore, an increase in the number of applications.

Specifically, he said, 57 pensioners received medical care worth 4  million drams or more, 158 received medical services worth 2 to 4  million drams, 802 received services worth 1 to 2 million drams,  1,208 received services worth 500,000 to 1 million drams, 6,558  received services worth 100,000 to 500,000 drams, 2,481 received  services worth 50,000 to 100,000 drams, and 38,809 received services  worth up to 50,000 drams.

Compulsory health insurance envisages a phased implementation of the  system over three years. The first stage began on January 1, 2026.  The system covers children under 18, individuals 65 and older (even  if employed), disabled individuals aged 18 to 65, members of socially  vulnerable families, and citizens earning over 200,000 drams. The  basic cost of an insurance policy in 2026 will be 129,600 drams  (10,800 drams per month). Part of this amount is reimbursed from  payments to the Zinapa Military Insurance Fund.  These payments,  increased in 2021, are now returning to their previous level of 1,000  drams, regardless of salary. The remaining portion will be reimbursed  to beneficiaries upon filing their annual personal income tax return.  However, in 2026, these amounts will be reimbursed monthly from the  state budget.

A state fund has been created to manage the system. It will operate  under temporary management for three months, after which a state  selection committee will form its board of directors, which, as  stated in the Concept for the Implementation of Compulsory Medical  Insurance, will be headed by the Minister of Health.

According to data for the first half of 2025, the total number of  pensioners was 500,300, of which approximately 384,800 receive a  labor pension and 101,800 receive a disability pension. The remaining  approximately 15,000 receive other types of pensions (for survivors,  for length of service, and others). The number of working pensioners  in the first half of 2025 was approximately 112,000 (approximately  22% of the total). At the beginning of 2026, the minimum pension was  approximately 36,000 drams, and the average pension was approximately  49,000 drams. Meanwhile, by the third quarter of 2025, the cost of  the minimum consumer basket per person was 81,681 drams, and the food  basket was 44,152 drams.