MVR 950 million spent on Aasandha; 50 percent of allocated budget used in 5 months

Aasandha, the national health insurance scheme, has used up half of its allocated annual budget in just five months, according to the Finance Ministry's latest figures.

As of the end of May, MVR 950 million has been spent from the MVR 1.8 billion budget allocated for Aasandha this year. This marks a 25 percent increase compared to the MVR 714 million spent during the same period last year.

In 2023, total expenditure for Aasandha reached MVR 2.4 billion, exceeding the initial budget of MVR 1.8 billion by MVR 500 million. The previous year's allocation was MVR 2.3 billion.

International financial institutions, including World Bank, have raised concerns about the unsustainable growth in Aasandha expenditure. Between 2014 and 2019, spending under the scheme rose by 18 percent, while the number of users grew by just 3 percent.

This indicates that the spending surge is mainly due to rising costs of medicines and healthcare services, rather than increased usage.

In addition to Aasandha, MVR 122 million has been spent this year on medical welfare through NSPA, while MVR 154 million was spent during the same period last year.

So far this year, total welfare and subsidy spending has reached MVR 4 billion, amounting to 46 percent of the annual budget allocated for such expenditures.