Health insurance: out of 10 dirhams, public hospitals get one. The goal: 5 by 2031
The health budget gains 3 billion and the government wants to take the public share from 9% to 50%. There's a target, but no milestones.
The news
Health and Social Protection Minister Youns Bjijou presented his ministry's 2027 draft budget to the House of Representatives' Social Sectors Committee on Thursday 5 November 2026. It comes to about 45.36 billion dirhams, nearly 3 billion more than in 2026, with 8,000 budgeted posts, including 2,600 for the regional health groups, and 6.14 billion dirhams to build, renovate and equip hospitals. The minister said the budget could be topped up with additional funds, the amount to be announced after ongoing technical checks.
According to the newspaper Al3omk, citing the ministry's draft budget, public health facilities receive no more than about 10% of health insurance spending, and the ministry aims to raise this to 50% by 2031. The Court of Auditors had reported that in 2024 the private sector received nearly 91% of care spending under the compulsory health insurance schemes, against 9% for public facilities.
The 2026-2031 government programme sets the same target, 41 points more than in 2024, with no annual milestones, according to Le Matin, which also reports a fall in attendance at public facilities of close to 50% in some specialties and services, such as emergency, dialysis and maternity care. On 30 October, Economy and Finance Minister Fouzi Lekjaa told MPs he opposed 90% of these resources being concentrated in private clinics, saying they are public funds.
The Health Ministry warns, according to Al3omk, that four of the five health insurance schemes show a structural deficit or signs of imbalance, and that the cumulative deficit could reach about 33 billion dirhams by 2030 without corrective action. The PAM's election platform had already put forward both figures, according to the site MCG24.
A frank diagnosis and more money. The balwara: 41 points in five years, without a single annual milestone.
The commentary
Satirical opinion from the editorsOut of 10 insurance dirhams, public hospitals get one. The goal: 5 dirhams by 2031. That's 41 points in five years, so, simple arithmetic, 8 points a year. It's quite a staircase, and the programme didn't plan a single landing.
To be fair, the government has named the problem, the increase is real, 8,000 posts is no small thing, and the minister himself says a budget's success isn't measured by its size alone. What's left is winning patients back with an early appointment, because nobody gets treated with a percentage.