Turkey's universal health coverage system, known as Genel Saglik Sigortasi or General Health Insurance, created in 2006 when the government merged five previously separate insurance programs into one scheme as part of the Healthcare Transformation Program that Turkey pursued between 2003 and 2013. The scheme is funded chiefly through a payroll-based social security contribution and is managed by Turkey's Social Security Institution, known as SGK, with the state guaranteeing unconditional coverage for groups including children, maternity care, infectious disease treatment and emergency care regardless of contribution status. Coverage of Turkey's population grew from less than two-thirds before the reform to more than 99 percent by 2022, even though Turkey's total health spending as a share of GDP, at about 6.3 percent, remains the lowest among OECD member countries.
Facts
Program StatusSourced to the subject's own accountActive; the current General Health Insurance (Genel Saglik Sigortasi) scheme, funded by a 5 percent employer tax surcharge, with public-sector funding covering about 75.2 percent of health expenditures 1 Sponsoring BodySourced to the subject's own accountSosyal Guvenlik Kurumu (Social Security Institution, SGK), funded by a tax surcharge on employers currently at 5 percent 1 Target PopulationSourced to the subject's own accountUniversal; covers the resident population of Turkey through a mix of public and private health services 1 Geographic ScopeSourced to the subject's own account Measured ResultsSourced to the subject's own accountPatient satisfaction with health services rose from 39.5 percent in 2003 to 75.9 percent in 2011 following the 2000s and 2010s health reforms; public-sector funding covers about 75.2 percent of health expenditures 1 Classification
Program KindSourced to the subject's own accountHealth Insurance or Financing Program 1 Connections
Associated With
Delivers Practice
Entity-backed identity for the program-kind enum value this public health program already carries, resolved to a health practice by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The program-kind fact itself stays on the program unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Health care in Turkey
WikipediaLead section, second sentence
Known as Universal Health Insurance Genel Saglik Sigortasi, it is funded by a tax surcharge on employers, currently at 5%. Public-sector funding covers approximately 75.2% of health expenditures.
Coverage section, first paragraph
patient satisfaction rising from 39.5% in 2003 to 75.9% in 2011.
Lead section, opening sentence
Healthcare in Turkey consists of a mix of public and private health services.
Program classification, entity description sentence
Turkey's universal health coverage system, known as Genel Saglik Sigortasi or General Health Insurance, created in 2006 when the government merged five previously separate insurance programs into one scheme as part of the Healthcare Transformation Program that Turkey pursued between 2003 and 2013.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.