About Us

Overview of EHIA

The Ethiopian Health Insurance Agency was established as an autonomous federal government organ through Regulation No. 191/2010 with the objective of implementing health insurance system in the country. The Agency has established 24 branch offices to implement the health insurance system all over the country.

The Agency is working on implementation of two types of health insurance systems in the country. The first type of health insurance system is Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI), which comprises the community engaged in the informal sectors of the economy. Currently, CBHI is being implemented in 202 woredas of Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNP regions. Until mid of the current 2008 EFY, about 7,413,701 people were registered beneficiaries of these CBHI schemes. Preparatory activities are being underway to expand implementation of CBHI schemes in other regions and city administrations.

The second type of health insurance system is Social Health Insurance (SHI), which comprises the population engaged in the formal sectors of the economy. SHI has been widely implemented in many European, Asian and African countries for years, and now preparatory activities are being finalized to commence implementation of SHI in Ethiopia too.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is a system where individuals or households pay small contributions or prepayments to get health services at the time of illness and to protect them from catastrophic health expenditures. In other words, health insurance is a prepayment system where small contributions are pooled together to insure citizens’ access to health services by avoiding financial barrier.

Ethiopian Health Insurance Agency was established as an autonomous federal organ through Regulation No. 191/2010 issued by the council of ministers.