Health Insurance

The Ethiopian government introduced Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) and launched pilot projects in 2011, in 13 districts. It took few years to get traction and for people to trust the system and its benefits. Then, it became widely available in almost every city in Ethiopia, including Harar. HAF decided to enroll all existing recipients (elders) in CBHI program so that they can receive:

• Routine checkups
• Hospital visits as much as needed
• Treatment and prescription drugs
• Even referrals to bigger and care specific hospitals outside the city of Harar
• It also covers the registration fee which is required for every hospital visit.

In order to be part of CBHI program, every district has its own enrolment fees.

The fees for the city of Harar, as of February 2025,

• New Member: 2,000 Ethiopian Birr ($16.00 USD) per person for a year
• Renewal: 1,330 Ethiopian Birr ($11.00 USD) per person for a year

Documents required to enroll:

• Government issued ID (copy to be submitted with application)
• 2 government ID size pictures
• One page application with personal details

HAF employee and volunteers went to each and every recipient (elder), in Harar, and explained the benefits of enrolling in the CBHI program. Most of our elders are suffering from basic medical challenges/issues due to lack of money to pay for treatment or purchase medication. Every hospital visit has registration fee, urine test fee, blood test fee and so on. HAF recipients do not even have enough money for food let alone hospital visits and medications.

As of July 2025, HAF enrolled 388 recipients, in city of Harar, into the Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) program.

We were informed by the registration office that the normal enrolment/renewal process takes 4 – 8 weeks for recipients to get their CBHI card, since it will be processed in Addis Ababa and shipped back to Harar. This card will be renewable every year to extend the service it provides.

PLEASE DONATE TO THIS CAUSE

Your generosity is the key to maintaining the health and wellbeing of our beloved Harari elders.