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Public Health Program

Rwanda Community-Based Health Insurance

Health Insurance and Access Program

A solidarity based national health insurance scheme, known as Mutuelle de Sante, run by the government of Rwanda and formally introduced in 2004 following an initial pilot in three districts that began in 1999, designed to let low income households pool small premiums to afford medical care. Funding combines member premiums, which supply roughly two thirds of the scheme's resources, with government funding, international donor support including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and smaller amounts of co-funding. Coverage expanded from under half of Rwandans in 2005 to more than 90 percent of the population by 2020, making the scheme a widely studied model for community based health financing in low income countries.

Facts
Launch Year
1999 1
Program Status
active; mandatory nationwide since 2008 1
Sponsoring Body
Rwandan government, owned and managed at the level of Rwanda's thirty districts 1
Target Population
all residents of Rwanda, organized by local community catchment area 1
Health Goal
extend affordable, community-based health insurance nationwide with premiums scaled to household wealth 1
Geographic Scope
Rwanda, devolved to local communities and made available nationwide by the mid-2000s 1
Measured Results
more than 90 percent population coverage as of 2014 1
Classification
Program Kind
Health Insurance or Financing Program 1
Connections

Associated With

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Healthcare in Rwanda
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
  • Health insurance system section, paragraph 2, sentence on the 1999 pilot
    The mutuelles were piloted in 1999, and were made available nationwide by the mid-2000s, with the assistance of international development partners.
  • Health insurance system section, paragraph 2, sentence on district-level ownership
    The mutuelles are owned and managed at the level of Rwanda's thirty districts.
  • Health insurance system section, paragraph 2, opening clause on devolved local financing
    The government has devolved the financing and management of healthcare to local communities
  • Health insurance system section, community-based paragraph, sentence on sliding-scale premiums
    Premiums are paid according to a sliding scale, with the poorest members of society entitled to use the service for free, while the wealthiest pay the highest premiums and are charged copays for treatment.
  • Health insurance system section, community-based paragraph, sentence defining the scheme
    The system is a community-based health insurance scheme, in which residents of a particular area pay premiums into a local health fund, and can draw from it when in need of medical care.
  • Health insurance system section, opening sentence on mandatory 2008 coverage
    Health insurance became mandatory for all individuals in 2008; in 2010 over 90% of the population was covered.
  • Health insurance system section, paragraph 3, sentence on 2014 coverage rate
    As of 2014, more than 90% of the population was covered by the scheme.
  • Program classification, entity description sentence
    A solidarity based national health insurance scheme, known as Mutuelle de Sante, run by the government of Rwanda and formally introduced in 2004 following an initial pilot in three districts that began in 1999, designed to let low income households pool small premiums to afford medical care.
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