Universal health insurance scheme Aasandha has MVR 45 million (US$2.9 million) left of its MVR 720 million (US$46.7 million) budget since its introduction on January 1 2012.
Records from the company show that from 1 January to 31 October 2012, MVR 675 million was used by 261,410 people – over 80 percent of the population.
Forty-five percent of the MVR 675 million was spent on government hospitals, whilst 22 percent went to private clinics and hospitals, and 9 percent to foreign clinics and hospitals.
Fifty-five percent of Aasandha’s budget was spent on the public sector, while 36 went to the private sector.
Free health care of up to MVR 100,000 was initially available to citizens under Aasandha.
Changes to the system were made by the government in August for the private sector, after concerns the scheme would run out of money.
