Karaki meets World Bank delegation

3^min

Director General of the National Social Security Fund, Mohamed Karaki, received a delegation from the World Bank specializing in the health field on Tuesday.

The delegation included Pia Schneider, Farah Asfahani, and Ronald Eduardo in the presence of the Fund's directors.

According to a statement from the Public Relations Department of the Fund, after the delegation presented the purpose of their visit to the Fund and explained the mission's objective regarding understanding the pharmaceutical sector and financing the health sector, the participants discussed the most prominent health issues in the country.

The Director General reviewed the recent steps taken to alleviate the impact of the economic crisis on the insured individuals, especially in terms of increasing pharmaceutical, medical, and hospital tariffs, which now cover approximately 40% of their actual costs, excluding kidney dialysis sessions that the Fund fully covers at a rate of 100%.

Furthermore, Karaki presented to the attendees the most significant administrative and logistical obstacles that hinder the Fund from providing its services in the required manner. He noted that despite these challenging circumstances, the Fund launched its interactive website, which facilitates matters for insured individuals and employers, allowing them to complete various transactions without needing to visit the Fund's offices and directorates physically.

The participants also discussed the Fund's relationship with the public and private sectors. Karaki affirmed that the private sector is committed to fulfilling its obligations to the Fund at a rate of 93-94%, while the public sector is still lagging behind in terms of paying its contributions and accumulated debts, which have exceeded 5 trillion Lebanese pounds.

At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed to hold more specialized follow-up meetings to explore the possibility of providing technical and operational assistance from the World Bank, utilizing its expertise and achievements in the health sector in several countries.

He also emphasized the "need for such assistance to target areas that lead to tangible improvements in the mechanism of service delivery to those dealing with the Fund."

Lebanon News

Karaki

NSSF

Lebanon

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