The Auditor General has expressed concern over the rising expenditure on medical services outside the national health insurance scheme Aasandha, warning that healthcare service providers must be made responsible and prices of medicines brought under control.
A performance audit on healthcare spending outside Aasandha showed that, if current trends continue, such spending could surpass Aasandha expenditure by 2031.
As per the audit, USD 195 million was spent on medical treatment outside Aasandha between 2019 and 2024, growing at an average rate of 28 percent per year. The National Social Protection Agency accounted for the largest share of this spending at 51 percent, followed by the expenditure by Maldives National Defence Force and Maldives Police Service at 40 percent. Other health insurance schemes accounted for 6 percent while the Zakat Fund made up 3 percent.
The audit identified the key drivers of rising costs as high charges at private hospitals in the Maldives, poor information-sharing among agencies, growth in chronic illnesses, increasing demand for assistance, and weak internal controls that allow abuse of the system.
The Auditor General recommended legal and policy reforms to hold health service providers accountable, control service prices, strengthen coordination among agencies, improve monitoring of medical expenditure, and introduce targeted assistance to those most in need.