By Lia Avagyan
Armenia plans to extend mandatory health insurance to roughly 400,000 more people in 2027, Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said, adding that premiums could rise in future but would remain unchanged next year.
In an interview with BOON TV published Saturday evening, Avanesyan said the next phase would include employees earning up to 200,000 drams (about $550) a month, taxi drivers and associated beneficiaries.
She put current enrollment at about 1.8 million people and projected that coverage would reach around 2.3 million next year.
Armenia’s health insurance system began operating on January 1, 2026, initially covering children, older people, designated social-support groups and employees earning more than 200,000 drams a month. The phased rollout is expected to reach most of the remaining population in 2028.
The launch followed years of delays. An earlier proposal, presented in 2019, envisaged financing coverage through a payroll tax but drew opposition over the burden on salaried workers. The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war subsequently disrupted implementation plans.
Premium unchanged for 2027
The annual insurance premium is 129,600 drams, or about $360. Asked whether that amount could increase, Avanesyan said it could, explaining that the insurance fund’s results and financial projections for the following year would be assessed annually and presented to parliament.
However, she said the premium had not been revised for 2027 and would remain at its current level.
“We cannot cover all healthcare costs in Armenia within 129,600 drams. That is not realistic,” she said.
Avanesyan said the government sought greater investment in healthcare but had to prioritize the most necessary and effective treatment within the available budget.
Children’s copayments questioned
The interviewers challenged Avanesyan over copayments for children under 18, saying they placed a burden on families, particularly those whose children have chronic illnesses.
They questioned whether introducing copayments represented a step backward from the government’s 2019 expansion of state-funded healthcare for children.
Avanesyan disputed that characterization. She said the earlier program covered only part of the services available and argued that the insurance package now provided broader coverage.
She said state-funded care became available to children under 18 in 2019, but that this never meant all treatment was free. Broad descriptions of the benefits, she added, could create differing interpretations and expectations.
“Insurance does not cover everything either. It will include everyone, but with a limited, defined list of services,” she said. Avanesyan said the government intended to keep expanding the benefits package. She cited robot-assisted surgery as a service now included, although with a copayment.
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