Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said Saturday that it is high time to come up with a clear plan with a timetable to introduce a comprehensive health insurance policy for all citizens.

He said that His Majesty King Abdullah II had directed successive governments to implement the comprehensive health insurance, and therefore "it is incumbent upon us to accomplish this matter."

The prime minister spoke as he patronized a conference on comprehensive health insurance at the Dead Sea Convention Centre, which was organized by the Jordan Association for Medical Insurance and attended by Royal Court Chief Yousef Isawi, Health Minister Ghazi Al Zabin, officials, doctors and representatives of insurance companies.

Razzaz said that the government will ask a task force to put the outputs of this conference and previous studies on comprehensive health insurance in a matrix that identifies the challenges, solutions, proposals and the timeframe required to achieve comprehensive health insurance.

"We do not need more studies, but the introduction of previous studies to develop a well-defined system and work program for this subject," he told the gathering.

After that, he added, the government will take decisions on amending legislation and setting up an independent body on health insurance, adding that he hoped that the next meeting of the association would only take place when comprehensive health insurance has become a reality.

For his part, the Health Minister said that Jordan has made important strides in the health sector over the last two decades as it achieved a prominent status at the local and international levels, especially in the field of medical tourism.

He said that the Jordanian medical accountability legislation, which is one of the first to be introduced in the region, is a "qualitative leap" that will contribute to developing the health sector and enhancing public confidence in it.

The minister pointed out that Jordan has gone a long way on the road to comprehensive health insurance, where about 73 percent of its citizens are covered, stressing the quest for comprehensive health insurance.