In order to inform the HFS development process 9 key areas for reforms had been identified by the Interministerial Steering Committee guiding the process. and requested several reports to inform the development of the strategy. These are:
- Minimum Benefit Package(s): options to sustainably structure access to benefits;
- Insurance Market Structure: options for the Social and Private Health Insurance architecture;
- Performance financing: options for linking allocations to performance of service providers;
- Equity-based financing: options for improving the equity targeting of (esp. budget) resources;
- Inclusion of poor & vulnerable: options for identification and financing of services for this group;
- CHF reforms: options for the re-design of the CHF system;
- Private sector resources: options strengthening equitable funding from the private sector;
- Financial management: options for improving accountability and timely availability of funds;
- Innovative financing and fiscal space: options for increasing public financing for health;
In addition to the 9 key areas identified by the ISC, the Ministry of health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) has now identified additional information needs in formulating a coherent health financing strategy. Thus it commissioned two additional studies on the Institutional and Organisational Assessment of its current Social Health Insurance System and on Provider Autonomy Options.
The different studies will have largely rendered results by mid-November. These results and recommendations will have to be reviewed and consolidated further by the HCFC in order to provide advise on the HFS development to the ISC. Furthermore as the HFS is being written, the strategic interventions need to be defined based on the option paper recommendations. In order to achieve these tasks a 3-day HCFC Working Retreat is proposed to take place at White Sands in Dar es Salaam, as 4th Workshop in a series of HFS Options Workshops.
