What Egypt’s Law No. 2 of 2018 says about Universal Health Insurance: whether it is compulsory, who pays what under Schedules 1 and 2, who is exempt, and what the co-payments were in the 2018 text. Quoted from the Official Gazette with its article and schedule numbers, and from UHIA’s pages, read 1 November 2026.
Under Law No. 2 of 2018, Universal Health Insurance applies compulsorily, governorate by governorate, to all citizens residing in Egypt, and optionally to Egyptians working abroad and those living abroad with their families (issuing Articles 1 and 3). Insured people pay the Schedule 1 percentages, and the State bears the cost for those who cannot afford it (Article 2).
This guide transcribes the law’s own text, as printed in the Official Gazette of 11 January 2018 and hosted by the Universal Health Insurance Authority (UHIA), and uses UHIA’s pages, read on 1 November 2026. It is not legal advice and cannot say whether you are covered or exempt, or what you would pay: ask UHIA. It follows the 2018 text, not later amendments. Arabic quotations keep the Gazette’s spelling; the English is our unofficial translation.
In short:
- Compulsory: for citizens living in Egypt, governorate by governorate (issuing Articles 1 and 3; Article 2). Apart from emergencies, services depend on being subscribed and paid up, with listed exceptions (Article 48).
- Who pays: Schedule 1 sets 1% of wage for employees under Law No. 79 of 1975, 5% for those under Law No. 108 of 1976 and the liberal professions, 2% of the pension for pensioners. The employer adds 4% of the contribution wage (Schedule 2). Article 40 names other funding sources too.
- Exempt: the State bears the costs of those who cannot afford it, under rules a Prime Minister’s decision sets. The law exempts them, and people with chronic diseases and tumours, from co-payments, again under that decision (Articles 2 and 40).
Last checked: 1 November 2026, on the law’s text and UHIA’s pages listed under Sources. Rates, amounts and the list of governorates change, so confirm them with UHIA before you rely on them.
Is Universal Health Insurance compulsory in Egypt?
Yes: the law applies it compulsorily to citizens residing in Egypt. The issuing law’s Article 1 says its provisions apply «إلزاميًا على جميع المواطنين المقيمين داخل جمهورية مصر العربية، واختياريًا على المصريين العاملين بالخارج وكذلك المقيمين مع أسرهم بالخارج» (compulsorily to all citizens residing in Egypt, and optionally to Egyptians working abroad and those living abroad with their families), and Article 2 of the law itself opens «التأمين الصحى الشامل نظام إلزامى» (Universal Health Insurance is a compulsory system). UHIA’s FAQ makes the same points (undated, read 1 November 2026). For foreigners, Article 59 says «يجوز للهيئة تقديم خدماتها» (UHIA may serve them), under rules it sets and on reciprocity.
It starts governorate by governorate. Article 1 of the law itself, item 26, defines the insured as anyone the law applies to «طبقًا لقواعد التدرج الجغرافى فى التطبيق» (by the rules of geographic phasing), and issuing Article 3 sends the phases to Schedule 5. The phases are in Universal Health Insurance in Egypt: what it is, in three lines.
What if I do not subscribe or pay?
Article 48 ties services to payment: «فيما عدا حالات الطوارئ، يشترط للانتفاع بخدمات التأمين الصحى الشامل، أن يكون المنتفع مشتركًا فى النظام ومسدداً للاشتراكات» (apart from emergencies, being subscribed and paid up is a condition of benefiting), from the date the law takes effect in the patient’s governorate. Arrears are paid in one sum or by instalments «وفقًا لما تحدده الهيئة» (as UHIA decides). The condition does not apply to a list of State and public-sector employees, pensioners and private-sector insured people «فى حالة تخلف صاحب العمل عن توريد الاشتراكات للهيئة» (where the employer failed to remit the contributions).
A late payer also owes «مبلغ إضافى سنوى عن مدة التأخير» (an annual surcharge for the delay, Article 43). Article 67 sets prison of up to a year and a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 pounds, or either (2018 text), for the competent employee in public bodies, the public sector or the public business sector, for a private-sector employer, or for whoever is responsible there, who «لم يقم بالاشتراك فى الهيئة عن أى من العاملين التابعين لجهته الخاضعين لأحكام هذا القانون، أو لم يقم بالاشتراك بأجورهم الحقيقية» (did not subscribe any of the workers who belong to it and fall under this law, or did not subscribe them at their real wages).
Who pays what under Law No. 2 of 2018?
Article 40 sends the insured person’s share to «الجدول رقم (١) المرافق» (annexed Schedule 1). Schedules 1 (Gazette page 46) and 2 (page 47), in our translation:
| Category | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Employees under Social Insurance Law No. 79 of 1975 | 1% of the contribution wage |
| The insured, and those treated as such, under Law No. 108 of 1976; members of the liberal professions not covered by the two laws above; Egyptians working abroad «غير الخاضعين للمادة (٤٨)» (see the note below) | 5% of the insured wage, or of the wage in the tax return, or of the maximum insured wage, whichever is higher |
| Workers under the comprehensive insurance system law, Law No. 112 of 1980 | 5% of the insured wage only, so one family’s total never exceeds 7%; the Treasury bears the difference in cost |
| Widows and pension beneficiaries; pensioners | 2% of the monthly pension |
| Employers, as the social insurance laws define them, for their workers | «بواقع (٤٪) شهريًا من أجر الاشتراك للعامل المؤمن عليه» (4% a month of the insured worker’s contribution wage; Article 40, second item), of which 3% is sickness insurance and 1% work injuries (Schedule 2), and «وبحد أدنى خمسون جنيهًا شهريًا» (a minimum of 50 pounds a month; Schedule 2, 2018 text) |
The Gazette limits its abroad line to those «غير الخاضعين للمادة (٤٨)» (not subject to Article 48); we copy it without interpreting that cross-reference.
The Gazette’s table puts dependents in one cell beside its first five categories, employees down to workers under Law No. 112 of 1980: «(٣٪) عن الزوجة غير العاملة أو التى ليس لها دخل ثابت، (١٪) عن كل مُعال أو ابن» (3% for a non-working wife or one with no fixed income, 1% for each dependent or child). The pensioners’ row repeats it; the widows’ row has a dash. The head of the family pays it, and it continues for children «حتى الالتحاق بعمل، أو زواج الإناث» (until they take a job, or daughters marry; Article 40).
Under Article 41, for people under the social insurance laws the employer pays the contributions monthly to the national social insurance authority, including the share deducted from wages, and that authority deducts a pensioner’s share from the pension. People who work for themselves, and professionals and craftspeople without regular salaries, pay UHIA «على دفعات نصف سنوية» (in half-yearly instalments).
Article 40 names other sources of funds too, which this guide does not cover: investment returns, fees for other services, grants and loans, donations and «مصادر أخرى» (other sources, ninth item, 2018 text), which include charges on cigarettes and on vehicle licences and a «مساهمة تكافلية» (solidarity contribution) on businesses’ annual revenues.
Who is exempt, and who does the State pay for?
Article 2 says «وتتحمل الدولة أعباءه عن غير القادرين طبقًا لضوابط الإعفاء التى يصدر بتحديدها قرار من رئيس مجلس الوزراء» (the State bears its costs for those who cannot afford them, under exemption rules a Prime Minister’s decision fixes). We did not read that decision: ask UHIA.
| Who or what | What the law says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Those who cannot afford it | The Treasury bears «نسبة (٥٪) من الحد الأدنى للأجور المعلن عنه بالحكومة على المستوى القومى شهريًا عن كل منهم» (5% of the nationally announced minimum wage, monthly, for each of them), dependents included. | Article 40 (fifth); Schedule 4 |
| Who counts as one | Families identified by criteria a committee from the Ministries of Social Solidarity and Finance and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics sets, revised at intervals of no more than three years. | Article 1 of the law itself, item 35 |
| Co-payments | «ويعفى من دفع قيمة المساهمات غير القادرين الذين تتحمل الخزانة العامة قيمة اشتراكاتهم، وذوو الأمراض المزمنة والأورام» (exempt from paying the co-payments: those who cannot afford it, whose contributions the Treasury bears, and people with chronic diseases and tumours), all under a Prime Minister’s decision regulating the exemption rules. | Article 40 (third) |
| “Chronic diseases” | The law’s own definition, for its own purposes: «الأمراض غير المعدية التى تأخذ فى تطورها فترة طويلة، وتحتاج لعلاج يستمر أكثر من ٩٠ يومًا» (non-communicable diseases that develop over a long period and need treatment lasting more than 90 days). | Article 1 of the law itself (definitions) |
Our translation, read on 1 November 2026.
UHIA’s home page says the State covers the treatment and contributions of those who cannot afford them and exempts them from co-payments (read 1 November 2026), and a FAQ answer dated 9 November 2021 says the Treasury pays «الاشتراك والمساهمات» for them and their dependents.
What do I pay when I use a service?
The law calls these «المساهمات»: amounts the insured pay on receiving a service, set in Schedule 3 (Gazette page 48, 2018 amounts, our translation):
| Service | Co-payment in the 2018 text |
|---|---|
| Home visit | 100 pounds |
| Medicine (not for chronic diseases and tumours) | 10%, up to 1,000 pounds, rising to 15% in the tenth year of applying the law |
| Radiology and medical imaging, and medical and laboratory tests (two rows; not related to chronic diseases and tumours) | 10% of the total value, up to 750 pounds a case |
| «الأقسام الداخلية» (internal departments; not chronic diseases and tumours) | 5%, up to 300 pounds a time |
A footnote marked on this column, printed on page 49, says «تزاد القيم الرقمية المقطوعة المذكورة سلفًا بنسبة تعادل (٧٪) سنويًا بما فيها الحد الأدنى من الأجور المعلن عنها بالحكومة على المستوى القومى» (the fixed values mentioned above increase by 7% a year, the nationally announced minimum wage included). So these are 2018 amounts, not today’s. UHIA’s contributions page shows different caps and no date (read 1 November 2026). We do not recompute them: ask UHIA.
Where can I read the law as a PDF?
UHIA hosts the Gazette issue as a PDF of scanned pages that cannot be searched. It starts at Gazette page 4, so Gazette page 46 is PDF page 43. The executive regulations are on the same site; this guide did not read them.
In Egypt: which governorates run on it now?
On 1 November 2026, UHIA’s home page, under «المحافظات المتاحة» (available governorates), showed six picture cards, each named on the picture: Ismailia, Luxor, Port Said, Aswan, Suez and South Sinai. That section has no date and names no other governorate, so it cannot say from when the system runs in each one. Schedule 5, where issuing Article 3 sends the phasing, is the 2018 plan, not a record of what has started. Check that page or call UHIA’s hotline, 15344 (printed on the same page, read 1 November 2026), before relying on this. The card guide covers registration, and the map of healthcare in Egypt shows where this scheme sits.
Where Medigize stands
Medigize is a navigation tool. It is not part of UHIA, and it does not register anyone or collect contributions. 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
Is Universal Health Insurance compulsory in Egypt?
The law applies it compulsorily to citizens residing in Egypt (issuing Article 1; Article 2), governorate by governorate (issuing Article 3). Apart from emergencies, services depend on being subscribed and paid up (Article 48).
Who pays for Universal Health Insurance?
The insured pay the Schedule 1 percentages, employers pay 4% of the contribution wage (Article 40, second item; Schedule 2), and the Treasury bears 5% of the national minimum wage a month for each person who cannot afford it (Article 40, fifth item; Schedule 4). Article 40 names other funding sources too, not covered here.
Who is exempt from Universal Health Insurance contributions?
The State bears the costs of those who cannot afford it, under rules a Prime Minister’s decision sets. The law exempts them, and people with chronic diseases and tumours, from co-payments, again under that decision (Articles 2 and 40).
What happens if I do not pay?
Apart from emergencies, Article 48 makes services depend on paying, with arrears paid in one sum or by instalments as UHIA decides. The condition does not apply to the listed employees and pensioners where the employer failed to remit the contributions.
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
- 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 UHIA; page numbers in this guide are the Gazette’s own), read 1 November 2026
- Universal Health Insurance Authority (UHIA): home page, read 1 November 2026
- UHIA: frequently asked questions (undated), read 1 November 2026
- UHIA: contribution rates of those who cannot afford them (FAQ answer dated 9 November 2021), read 1 November 2026
- UHIA: contributions (co-payments) (undated), read 1 November 2026
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