Exploring public options for health insurance and health services provision for refugees.

Exploring public options for health insurance and health services provision for refugees The number of forcibly displaced persons currently around the world is higher than ever before. In 2015, more than 65 million people were either refugees or seeking asylum abroad, or displaced within their own countries. Fleeing conflict or persecution, many make harrowing journeys in attempts to escape violence and destitution at home. Once in their country of destination, however, refugees and asylum seekers face new increased protection risks and hardship. 2. HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEMES FOR REFUGEES Many refugees reside in camps that are often remotely located, disconnected from local communities, markets and public services, including public health facilities. These refugee camps are supported by UNHCR and its partners. Increasingly, however, many refugees live in cities together with local populations. Today, over 60 per cent of the world's 19.5 million refugees live in urban environments. This makes it possible, for refugees to seek and receive care at public health centers or visit facilities participating in public social health insurance schemes. UNHCR is already operating in some countries where refugees have gained access to public services and social health protection schemes. The agency may contribute financially, including complete or partial payment of premiums and, in some cases, the agency commits to cover insurance co-payments of services for primarily vulnerable refugees. Examples include: 3. OBJECTIVES The objective of this partnership is to bring together the social protection expertise of ILO with the refugee protection mandate of UNHCR to further seek opportunities and implement integration schemes for refugees into existing national social protection systems, specifically health insurance schemes with the aim to allow refugees to access health services at the same level as nationals, through shared risk mechanisms. 4. OUTPUTS Moving forward, to provide guidance for more UNHCR country programs on various public options for health insurance and health services provision for refugees, UNHCR together with the ILO will commission: i) Five (5) evaluations of existing schemes to examine the functioning and relative ii) A series of five (5) in-depth feasibility studies, including actuarial analyses, in a select number of countries to explore options for the inclusion of certain refugee populations, including potential benefit schedules and necessary contribution rates. iii) On the basis of initial lessons drawn from existing health insurance integration initiatives, UNHCR has developed in 2012 “A Guidance Note on Health Insurance Schemes for Refugees”4. This is an important document for UNHCR operations to plan for mutli-year integration strategies. However, integration strategies have advanced since 2012, and are now, within the CRRF envisaged to become multi-sectoral. Social protection systems have advanced as well. The guidance note therefore must be updated to reflect current practice and evidence.

Project symbol

GLO/17/28/HCR

Admin unit

SOCPRO

Start date

15/09/2017

End date

15/02/2018

Total allocation

120000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

118677

Development Partners

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Country/Countries

Global

Outcomes

Creating and extending social protection floors