Does everyone in Turkey benefit from health services with general health insurance?

Abstract

General health insurance was instituted with the aim of reducing the burden of health financing which fell upon the state, yet has ended up increasing it. The system was constructed with the aim of creating additional financial resources, but caused an important responsibility for the collection of unpaid premiums. Around 4.5 million people who do not work with general health insurance and who have not had means tests have received a high premium rate and indebted themselves, and since they cannot pay these, they cannot benefit from health services. On top of this, these people’s debt increases with interest for non-payment. On the other hand, many citizens who reach 18 have to enter the general health insurance system, and yet they increase their premiums since they do not have the information to make informed choices; they only learn of their debts when they visit their doctor or a hospital. General health insurance has not been explained well to the public, and it has been implemented without enough information being distributed, so it does not seem that meeting its aim of allowing those without enough money to access health services will be possible. This paper sought to answer the question of whether everyone in Turkey benefits from health services with the general health insurance.