Shahid alleges new Aasandha policy aimed for discrimination

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) President Abdulla Shahid alleges that the true purpose the newly rolled out Aasandha policies is aimed at discriminating towards people with certain political ideals.

The state-initiated health insurance scheme was introduced first in 2011 during MDP’s first reign in presidency, by former President Mohamed Nasheed with the primary aim of facilitating financial support for medical needs.

According to Shahid, the Aasandha system brought an end to Maldivians’ begging for financial support to attend to their medical needs; through which locals could access to a universal healthcare system by simply producing their national identity card. He said the insurance scheme is one of the most important initiatives of the MDP government.

Shahid further said that MDP introduced this system to ensure comprehensive coverage of health insurance for all without any discrimination, since the access to affordable healthcare was a fundamental right of all citizens.

The government recently announced significant changes to the Aasandha scheme and private insurance policy for out-patient services. The state declared that private health insurance would precede Aasandha insurance coverage for out-patient services for those who have subscribed to private insurance plans.

Shahid alleged that the true aim of these changes set by the incumbent government was to isolate people with certain political ideologies from receiving access to Aasandha insurance. He further claimed the current administration intended to bring back the custom of locals ‘begging’ to meet their medical needs by politicizing the entire health sector.

The MDP leader urged the government not to discriminate among the citizens with regards to access to affordable healthcare and politicize the health sector.

The current government brought notable changes to Aasandha insurance scheme as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the state’s expenditure in light of recommendations made by various international financial institutions for a more robust regulation of the scheme.

Following mounting public criticism about the decision, the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) later affirmed that the scheme had not been discontinued to anyone, but rather it discontinued the utilization of dual-insurance schemes.