Healthcare facilities are largely owned and managed by the Kazakh Ministry of Health and treatment is provided through a network of primary, secondary and tertiary care. Health insurance for Kazakh residents is mostly provided through the public sector of the government.
Kazakhstan has a large network of emergency medical centres, hospitals and pharmacies in it’s larger cities. However, standards of care have dropped significantly since the Soviet era and it is sometimes difficult to ascertain the quality of the service and levels of expertise of the professionals. For this reason expats are strongly advised to take out a private, comprehensive insurance plan.
Public hospitals make up around 70% of the total hospital capacity in Kazakhstan, although the government invests less than half the per capita rate in their healthcare services than most countries, at just under 5% of the country's GDP.
The public system is therefore incredibly flawed and subject to bribes and corruption. As it is, quality of services among different regions of the country are uneven due to factors like population size and wealth, and many wealthier Kazakhs choose to take out separate health insurance as a means of avoiding the state system.
A measure enforcing employer contributions to the individual’s health care fund was signed into law, and has been effective since the beginning of 2017. This measure is expected to boost healthcare spending and generally improve services for patients. The legislation splits healthcare services into two separate camps, depending on how the services are funded and the nature of the treatment. The care will be paid for by the authorised public or private service.
The stipulations of the legislation are as follows:
All citizens and residents are required to participate in these contributions, unless they are exempted under the 15 different categories of vulnerable persons.