The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted several social flaws in our country, hence the historic announcement of King Mohamed VI, during his speech on the occasion of the feast of the throne in July 2020, to generalize the social coverage for all Moroccans, by engaging the “government and the various actors to focus their attention and action on the challenges and priorities dictated by this new situation ”.
” All the projects and initiatives that We undertake have a dual complementary purpose: the promotion of development and the establishment of social and spatial justice. “, Assured the Sovereign, stressing that” the priority aspiration is to ensure social protection to all Moroccans. And Our determination is that in the long term We can benefit all sections of society ”. The King thus considered that ” the time has come to launch, over the next five years, the process of generalizing social coverage for the benefit of all Moroccans ”.
2021-2026 is the ” deadline “ granted to the government and public authorities to set up this Royal mega project and above all, to succeed. This is the deployment of the generalization of social coverage, from January 2021, to include 22 million additional Moroccans. Since then, all the players concerned (Ministry of Finance, CNSS, etc.) have been working hard to set up this project, which remains a huge challenge for them, especially since the announcement comes in a somewhat particular context marked by the pandemic and its economic and social repercussions.
Since January 2021 and to this day, where is this project? Can the deadline be respected? … So many questions that keep coming back and on which the communications director of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), Reda Benamar, was kind enough to enlighten us, especially since the CNSS remains one of the key players in this Royal yard.
For the manager, things are starting to take shape. ” There is an acceleration following the adoption of the framework bill 09.21 by the parliament and the Council of Ministers. And so things are becoming clearer. At the end of 2021, we must integrate a little more than 3.5 million self-employed workers into the fold of social protection in application of law 98.15 which itself was adopted and published in 2017.“, Explains our interlocutor.
Generalization of social coverage: Who does what
To set up this human project, there are two aspects to be taken into consideration. Regulatory and legislative, therefore structural, then logistics. The CNSS is concerned with the logistics side. Everything that is regulatory, decree, laws is not his responsibility, but that which has the necessary attributions for it, that is to say the Executive.
In terms of logistics, the CNSS is doing everything to welcome this new population in better conditions, that is to say, in terms of upgrading its information system, said Benamar, noting that this generalization will be rely heavily on the digitization of services and contact. The second aspect is inherent in human resources, underlines the person in charge at the CNSS.
” Human resources must be there, available, to accommodate more people, more requests for reimbursement of medical costs and services which will initially be generalized to the populations concerned as provided for in the framework law in 2021/2022. Almost 22 million Moroccans are expected to be in the health insurance system. Both the self-employed, but also the Ramedists“, He explains.
There is also the network component, which the CNSS also manages. ” We are in the process of doing the necessary so that in less than 6-7 months, we can open some 50 contact points and agencies on the national territory, in particular in the cities and regions where we are not present today. Because the concentration of salaried workers is not the same as the population, not completely anyway. Now we will go to the non-salaried population ”, he said. This will therefore concern doctors, pharmacists, traders, architects, farmers… In short, all non-salaried workers.
Now, which sector will be the first to benefit from this social coverage ?. This is a regulatory matter for the Executive. On the other hand, the populations on which the CNSS work today and the actors concerned in extreme urgency, it is all the tradesmen craftsmen, professionals registered in the Single Professional Contribution (CPU).
” A priori, it should be the first population that should benefit from health insurance. And this is the largest population. You should know that since August 2020, there are populations who are already in the system, TNS (self-employed) and independent workers, such as Adouls, physiotherapists, midwives, guides tourist and judicial officers. They are already integrated into the TNS. But the first biggest batch of individuals who had to integrate the system of medical cover, it is the tradesmen craftsmen and professionals subjected or who chose the system of the CPU, since it includes in this contribution an additional right which goes allow them to finance their medical coverage ”, Reda Benamar details.
And to add: “So when they have made their declaration to the DGI, for a week, and they must normally all integrate the system. Moreover, an advertisement was widely distributed in this direction.. And the CNSS is currently working on extending social coverage to new populations ”.
The most important for the CNSS today, and as we can see, remains the logistics aspect. ” We are in the process of arranging our information system, recruiting staff, opening branches in a fairly short period of time and making our organization available to welcome this population and to ensure and guarantee a quality of service that will be at least equal to what we provide today to salaried workers in the private sector“, Assures the manager.
” The CNSS is ready and will provide the same health insurance benefits as salaried workers for this new population. They will have the same services, namely 70% of the costs incurred, in the case of a serious illness and coûyouuThe support can reach up to 100%, the same for a heart transplant, whether in Morocco or abroad. Health insurance will therefore be identical, whether the person is independent, self-employed, subject to the CPU, this population will have the same benefits as the salaried worker who has benefited from it since 2005. Afterwards, we have a deadline to respect provided for in the framework law following the royal speech ”, supports our interlocutor.
To conclude: The year 2021-2022 will be devoted to the generalization of health insurance to this entire population. So a priori, we should not go beyond 2022, and if we exceed this deadline, we are in violation of the royal decisions and the schedule taken in the framework law 09-21. On our side, it is doable. Lhe logistics will be there to welcome everyone ”.
