The head of the Parliamentary Health Committee and member of the "Democratic Gathering" bloc, MP Bilal Abdullah, submitted a proposal to amend paragraph 2 of Article 73 of Decree No. 13955 issued on September 26, 1963 (Social Security Law), to read as follows:
**Article 73:2** - The contributions for health and maternity insurance are the responsibility of the insured individuals, their employers, and the state. The state undertakes 25% of the value of the related health benefits and determines the contribution rates for both employers and employees through a decree made in the Council of Ministers, based on the proposal of the Minister of Labor and the conclusion of the Board of Directors. However, the contributions related to:
- Trainees and individuals whose cash wages do not exceed a limit set by the Board of Directors will be entirely borne by the employers.
- Physicians accepted by the fund according to the provisions of the Social Security Law and the internal regulations are considered as employers, and the state covers what is required from employers for these employees.
**Article Two:**
1. The required appropriations from the state treasury to cover its contribution according to paragraph 2 of Article 73 shall be allocated annually for the year 2024 in the public health budget.
2. The General Director of the National Social Security Fund shall submit a request to the Ministry of Public Health, documented with a list of names during the preparation phase of the annual state budget, limited to the state's contribution in funding the coverage for physicians accepted by the fund according to the provisions of this law.
**Article Three:**
This law shall come into effect as of January 1, 2024.
**Reasons for the Proposal:**
The proposal states that preventive and therapeutic health care protection is fundamentally the responsibility of the state, as well as health service providers such as hospitals and physicians, and also the citizens themselves, each in their respective domain. This justifies the contribution of public funds to health coverage, based on the principle of national solidarity and supporting the groups involved in ensuring this health protection, particularly the doctors accepted by the fund who provide treatment for the insured, who are Lebanese citizens.
It emphasizes that the contributions of the insured, including doctors, in financing healthcare systems are based on affirming individual responsibility towards health, while emphasizing the state's and society’s duties, in addition to social partners, thus a clear relationship must be established between any type of health service and appropriate financing methods for the desired objectives of solidarity.
The proposal also upholds the principle of equitable distribution of burdens based on equality and justice among employees and employers within the framework of social insurance and professional solidarity, assessing the level of responsibility of all parties involved in providing health protection.
It asserts that the doctors accepted by the fund are healthcare providers, delivering medical services to insured Lebanese citizens, thereby sharing the state’s responsibility for providing health protection on Lebanese soil.
Furthermore, the accepted doctors play the role of expenditure contractors and also have a supervisory role over health spending and its regulation.
For these reasons, and others, the proposed law is submitted with the hope that the esteemed Parliament will discuss and approve it as soon as possible.
