ArmInfo.The competition for a vacant position as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Universal Health Insurance Fund was supposed to take place today. Anush Poghosyan, president of the NGO "Right to Health," announced this on her Facebook page.
She noted that the competition was announced about a month ago, and she submitted all the necessary documents within the established deadline. "Two weeks later, I was again asked to send the same documents, which I did. After that, complete silence. Later, I saw a one-sentence announcement on the ministry's website that the elections would be held on June 23 at 12:00, and the competition for the vacant position of general director would be held on the same day at 13:00. However, neither the location of the competition nor the procedure for its conduct and participation were indicated. I tried to contact the Foundation to find out where and in what format the competition would be held. All my attempts were in vain. No one responded, no one clarified, no one contacted me. As a result, I, as a candidate who had officially submitted an application, still did not know where the competition was being held, where I needed to appear, and what procedure to follow to participate. And, as it turned out, other candidates also found themselves in a similar situation. Here's everything you need to know about "competitions," "transparency," and "legitimacy" of government-organized competitions. When even competition participants are not informed of the location, it is difficult "It's hard to believe that the goal is to select the best candidate. Under these circumstances, a natural question arises: is the competition being organized to select the winner or simply to formally confirm a previously made decision?" the NGO president noted, adding as a postscript that if the competition's address is a state secret, it's not hard to guess what status its results will have.
In Armenia, the selection and competition processes for the Fund's governing bodies are regulated by the RA Law "On Universal Health Insurance." The Fund is governed by a Board of Trustees. The competition procedures include the following key aspects: the formation of a board, which must include representatives of government agencies (the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance), as well as public, medical, and patient organizations.
Vacancies on the Board and for the position of CEO of the Fund are filled through open public competitions. The country has been implementing a phased universal health insurance system since 2026. The basic cost of a policy is 129,600 drams per year (approximately 10,800 drams per month). All seven insurance companies in the country have already joined this system. For children under 18, individuals over 65, individuals with disabilities (18 to 65 years old), and socially vulnerable citizens, the state covers 100% of the policy cost. Individuals with incomes over 200,000 drams per month pay for their own insurance, but a portion is reimbursed through government mechanisms (including payments to the Military Insurance Fund and tax returns).
