Kosovo Assembly members have approved in principle the Draft Law on Mandatory Health Care Insurance, while opposition parties requested more information from the Government regarding the payments and packages that will be offered.
The draft law was approved with 65 votes in favor, none against, and no abstentions. The second reading of the draft law will take place on April 23.
The Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, said that the draft law aims for universal coverage of health services and aims to improve health and well-being, but also to prevent various diseases.
He said that this bill also provides sustainable funding for the health system.
The question of whether they expect the implementation of the Health Insurance Law to begin and what the benefits and losses will be for citizens who have not had this law until now, was the topic of discussion for "Front Online" by former Ministers of Health.
They have given their assessments regarding the importance of the law and the impact it may have on financial protection and access to health services.
Former Minister of Health, Ferid Agani, has stated that the re-approval of the Health Insurance Law is an important step, but not sufficient for success.
"The re-approval of this law by the Government is an important step, but it should be emphasized that approval in itself does not guarantee successful implementation. Experience so far shows that the main challenge has not been the lack of the law, but the lack of institutional preparation to implement it," Agani declared.
According to Agani, if key structural issues are not addressed, there is a risk that the law will remain merely formal.
Agani warned that without these reforms, the law will hardly bring real changes to the healthcare system.
"If structural issues such as the functionalization of the Health Insurance Fund, premium collection mechanisms, and the transformation of public health service providers into contractual and performance-accountable entities are not clearly addressed - then the risk is that the law will remain more of a formal instrument than a real reform," said Agani.
The former minister explained what the citizens' losses were in the absence of this law.
"The main loss of citizens has been the lack of financial protection. A large part of health expenditures in Kosovo, according to the latest study presented today by the South East European Institute for Health and Social Policy, 38-40% is covered directly by citizens ('out-of-pocket' payments). A fairer and more transparent financing system has been lacking, which would ensure more equal access to quality services," said Agani.
Agani assessed that the full implementation of the Health Insurance Law could bring significant benefits to citizens.
He said that one of the main effects is expected to be the gradual reduction of direct out-of-pocket payments and increased financial protection.
"If the law is fully implemented, the benefits for citizens could be considerable. A gradual reduction in out-of-pocket payments and increased financial protection are expected, especially for the most vulnerable categories. Health insurance creates the opportunity for better organization of services, through contracting health service providers and linking financing to performance and quality," Agani declared.
Former Minister of Health, Imet Rrahmani, said that the Law on Health Insurance was first approved by the Parliament in April 2014.
Rrahmani evaluated the re-approval of this law as a positive signal, but it is being overlooked.
"It is a positive signal that the need for health insurance is being discussed and re-actualized. A truth must be told to the public that it is being deliberately ignored. This law was first approved by the Assembly in April 2014. In the period 2015–2017, intensive work was done to implement the law in question, and as a result of this work, the need arose to supplement and amend it in order to fully adapt it to other laws that interfere in this field," declared Rrahmani.
According to him, several changes were approved in December 2016 in the Government led by Isa Mustafa, but have not been able to be processed in the Assembly due to political developments.
"The amendment was passed in December 2016 in the Mustafa Government. The law did not go to the Assembly due to the vote of confidence in the government and the election. Someone may have doubts about what I am saying, but a tangible argument is the establishment at that time and the existence today of the Health Insurance Fund, an institution that is based on the Insurance Law of 2014," he said.
He pointed out that this 12-year period shows that from the adoption to the implementation of the law, there have been many challenges.
"From September 2017 to 2025, no step forward has been made. In 2025, the law was again passed by the Government, but now with changes that were contested by the Constitutional Court. This 12-year period of non-implementation of the law proves that from the adoption of the law to its implementation, there are many challenges," he said.
According to him, the Ministry of Health cannot implement the law alone, without the support of other ministries, private businesses and civil society.
"I hope that this will finally be taken seriously and that this law will be implemented, which will create many benefits for both patients and health institutions. The Ministry of Health is responsible, but in no way can it implement the law if it does not have broad support from other ministries, private businesses and civil society," Rrahmani emphasized.
Former member of the Health Committee from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Shemsedin Dreshaj, spoke after the approval of the Law on Health Insurance, saying that it is a draft prepared years ago.
Dreshaj states that this is a quality law, from which citizens are expected to benefit.
However, he raised concerns about the lack of political will over the years for its implementation.
"This law was drafted much earlier in the previous government, due to the violation of procedures in the process of shaping the law, it ended up in the Constitutional Court, which requested that the necessary steps be respected, which were later eased, and since that law is in the form when I was part of the Health Committee that we drafted together with all parliamentary groups, it is a good law and citizens will have sufficient benefits from it," said Dreshaj.
He warned that even after approval, the implementation of the law will not be immediate.
According to him, delays are expected and the full functionality of the health insurance system will not happen in the short term.
"There is a lack of political will, we have had a law since 2015 until the previous Kurti 2 legislature, there has been no political will to implement this law. This law is not easy to implement because it requires several preconditions that must be met before its implementation can begin, there will be delays and it is not expected to be implemented soon," Dreshaj declared.
On January 9, 2026, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo decided to repeal the Law on Mandatory Health Insurance, adopted on December 12, 2024 by the Assembly of Kosovo. This decision was made together with the repeal of over 10 other laws through two separate rulings.
The law was submitted for review by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, which raised suspicions of procedural violations during its adoption.
The Kosovo government first approved this law in August 2014./Front Online
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