Universal Health Insurance in Egypt: what it is, in three lines

Universal Health Insurance is the national health insurance system set up by Egypt’s Law No. 2 of 2018. Article 2 defines it as a system based on social solidarity, covering all citizens, with the family as the main unit of cover and funding kept separate from providing care. The law applies it to governorates in phases.

This guide quotes the definition from the law’s text in the Official Gazette, as hosted on the site of the General Authority for Universal Health Insurance (the Authority), and uses the Authority’s own pages, read on 31 October 2026. It does not say whether your governorate is in the system, what you are entitled to, or what you would pay: the Authority answers those.

In short:

• What it is: a system based on social solidarity that covers all citizens, with the family, not the individual, as the main unit of cover (Article 2, and the Authority’s FAQ).
• Who covers those who cannot pay: the State, under exemption rules fixed by a decision of the Prime Minister (Article 2).
• Who does what: the Authority manages and finances the purchase of care and may not provide treatment itself; contracted providers do (Article 2, and the Authority’s FAQ).

Last checked: 31 October 2026, on the Authority’s pages and the Gazette text listed under Sources. Procedures, phone numbers and the list of governorates change, so confirm them before you rely on them.

What is Universal Health Insurance in Egypt?

Law No. 2 of 2018 has two parts: five issuing articles, then the Universal Health Insurance System Law itself. The definition is Article 2 of the law itself. The Arabic is quoted word for word, with the Gazette’s spelling (Official Gazette, issue 2, supplement (b), 11 January 2018, page 12); the English is our translation.

«التأمين الصحى الشامل نظام إلزامى، يقوم على التكافل الاجتماعى، وتغطى مظلته جميع المواطنين بجمهورية مصر العربية، وتكون الأسرة هى وحدة التغطية التأمينية الرئيسة داخل النظام، وتتحمل الدولة أعباءه عن غير القادرين طبقًا لضوابط الإعفاء التى يصدر بتحديدها قرار من رئيس مجلس الوزراء، ويقوم هذا النظام على أساس فصل التمويل عن تقديم الخدمة، ولا يجوز للهيئة تقديم خدمات علاجية أو الاشتراك فى تقديمها.»

Article 2, Universal Health Insurance System Law, issued by Law No. 2 of 2018.

Universal health insurance is a compulsory system based on social solidarity. Its umbrella covers all citizens of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The family is the main unit of insurance cover within the system. The State bears its costs for those who cannot afford them, under exemption rules to be fixed by a decision of the Prime Minister. The system rests on separating financing from providing the service, and the Authority may not provide treatment services or take part in providing them.

Our translation, not an official one.

Phrase by phrase, with what the Authority’s pages add (read 31 October 2026):

The law’s words	In plain English	What the official texts add
«نظام إلزامى، يقوم على التكافل الاجتماعى»	A compulsory system based on social solidarity.	The Authority’s FAQ gives the aim as cutting poverty and illness rates by moving the financial burden of illness from a person’s own income to a financial system able to carry it.
«وتغطى مظلته جميع المواطنين بجمهورية مصر العربية»	Its umbrella covers all citizens of Egypt.	The law reaches governorates gradually, in phases (below).
«وتكون الأسرة هى وحدة التغطية التأمينية الرئيسة داخل النظام»	The family is the main unit of cover.	Article 1 of the law (its definitions), item 28, defines the family as «مجموعة من الأفراد مكونة من الزوج والزوجة أو أكثر والمعالين»: in our literal translation, a group of individuals made up of the husband and the wife (or more) and the dependents. The FAQ adds that in the older scheme the individual is the unit.
«وتتحمل الدولة أعباءه عن غير القادرين»	The State bears the cost for those who cannot afford it, under exemption rules set by a Prime Minister’s decision.	Article 1 of the law, item 35, defines those who cannot afford it as the families identified by criteria set by a committee drawn from the Ministries of Social Solidarity and Finance and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
«ويقوم هذا النظام على أساس فصل التمويل عن تقديم الخدمة»	Funding is kept separate from providing the service. The Authority may not provide treatment or take part in providing it.	The FAQ says the system buys care from providers.

Who runs Universal Health Insurance in Egypt?

Three public authorities. The Authority’s FAQ names them, and Article 1 of the law itself (its definitions), items 2 to 4, gives the article that creates each one (read 31 October 2026).

Authority	Created by	What the FAQ says it does
General Authority for Universal Health Insurance	Article 4	Manages and finances the purchase of health services for those subscribed to the system.
General Authority for Healthcare	Article 15	The public-sector hospitals, units and centres that provide the services.
General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation	Article 26	Aims at quality assurance of health services, and licenses the bodies that take part in providing hospital services.

Which governorates have Universal Health Insurance, and where do I check?

This guide gives no list of the governorates running the system today, because we could not find a dated official list on 31 October 2026. Below are what the law says and what the Authority’s pages show.

The issuing Article 3 says: «تسرى أحكام القانون المرافق تدريجيًا على المحافظات استرشاداً بالمراحل المبينة بالجدول رقم (٥) المرافق، وبما يضمن استدامة الملاءة المالية للنظام وبمراعاة توازنه الاكتوارى.» In English: the provisions of the annexed law apply gradually to the governorates, guided by the phases in Schedule 5, in a way that ensures the sustainability of the system’s financial solvency and takes its actuarial balance into account (our translation). Schedule 5, titled «مراحل تطبيق نظام التأمين الصحى الشامل على جمهورية مصر العربية» (the phases of applying the system in Egypt), in the Gazette of 11 January 2018, page 50, reads:

Phase	Governorates in Schedule 5
First	Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, South Sinai, North Sinai
Second	Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Matrouh, Red Sea
Third	Alexandria, Beheira, Damietta, Sohag, Kafr El-Sheikh
Fourth	Assiut, New Valley, Fayoum, Minya, Beni Suef
Fifth	Dakahlia, Sharqia, Gharbia, Monufia
Sixth	Cairo, Giza, Qalyubia

This is the plan the law set in 2018, not a record of what has started. The law calls the phases a guide, and we did not check whether later decisions changed their order.

What the Authority’s own pages show (read 31 October 2026):

• Its home page has a section headed «المحافظات المتاحة» (available governorates). When we read it, it showed six picture cards, each with a governorate’s name printed on the picture, and no date or text list. A picture with no date cannot tell you from when the system runs there, so we do not copy it here.
• Its branches page lists its branches with their addresses, and prints hotline 15344. Its home page, in its steps for getting the service, says to call 15344 to book an appointment with the family doctor.
• Its FAQ is undated and worded for Port Said and the governorates that followed. For a worker whose job is in one governorate and whose family lives in another, it says the family’s cover follows its place of permanent residence.

A first question for the hotline or a branch: has the system started in my governorate, and from what date?

In Egypt: how is it different from the older health insurance?

Egypt has two main insurance schemes, with separate authorities. The Health Insurance Organization guide covers the older one, and the map of healthcare in Egypt sets them side by side.

Compared on	The older scheme	Universal Health Insurance
Unit of cover	The individual (the Authority’s FAQ)	The whole family (Article 2; the FAQ)
How it arrives	Continues for insured people until the new law applies to them	Governorate by governorate, in phases (issuing Article 3)
Who runs it	The Health Insurance Organization	The three authorities above

Read on 31 October 2026, from Article 2, issuing Article 3 and the Authority’s FAQ.

Issuing Article 3 says insured people keep their existing health insurance services under the existing laws until the new law applies to them. From that date, work under the older laws it lists stops for them, among them the decree that set up the Health Insurance Organization for employees of the government and public bodies (No. 1209 of 1964) and the health insurance laws for students, the female breadwinner, and children below school age (Gazette of 11 January 2018, page 5).

Where Medigize stands

Medigize is a navigation tool. It is not part of the Authority, and it does not register anyone in Universal Health Insurance or issue cards. We are building a record that moves with the patient, shared only with their consent. If you would like to follow that work, you can register your interest.

Frequently asked questions

What does Universal Health Insurance mean in Egypt?

It is the national health insurance system set up by Law No. 2 of 2018, based on social solidarity, covering all citizens, with the family as the main unit of cover (Article 2).

Who runs Universal Health Insurance in Egypt?

Three public authorities: for universal health insurance (Article 4), for healthcare (Article 15), and for healthcare accreditation and regulation (Article 26), per the Authority’s FAQ and Article 1 of the law (read 31 October 2026).

Is Universal Health Insurance the same as the Health Insurance Organization?

No. They are two schemes with separate authorities. Insured people keep the older scheme until the new law applies to them (issuing Article 3).

Which governorates have Universal Health Insurance now?

This guide does not list them: we could not find a dated official list on 31 October 2026. Schedule 5 is a plan from 2018, not today’s position. The Authority’s home page has a section headed «المحافظات المتاحة», which had no date when we read it. You can also call hotline 15344.

What is the Universal Health Insurance Authority’s hotline?

The Authority’s pages print hotline 15344, for example on its branches page (read 31 October 2026), and its home page says to call it to book an appointment with the family doctor. In an emergency, do not wait on this line: go to the nearest emergency department.

Medigize is a non-diagnostic navigation tool. This is general information, not medical advice. In an emergency, call an ambulance or go to the nearest emergency department.

Sources

1. General Authority for Universal Health Insurance: home page, read 31 October 2026
2. General Authority for Universal Health Insurance: frequently asked questions (undated page), read 31 October 2026
3. General Authority for Universal Health Insurance: branches, read 31 October 2026
4. Law No. 2 of 2018 issuing the Universal Health Insurance System Law, Official Gazette, issue 2 supplement (b), 11 January 2018 (scanned PDF hosted by the Authority; page numbers in this guide are the Gazette’s own, and the PDF starts at Gazette page 4, so Gazette page 12 is PDF page 9), read 31 October 2026