The national health insurance scheme ‘Aasandha’ has changed the policy of prioritizing private insurance when billing for health services provided to individuals with private insurance.

In a statement released by the company, it was highlighted that the company has made changes to the policy regarding how outpatient services are provided to those with both private insurance and Aasandha coverage.

Aasandha has revealed that they have changed the policy which previously prioritized private insurance when billing for health services and only deducted from Aasandha after private insurance was exhausted.

With this change, starting from March 19, consultation fees for doctor visits will be charged according to this new policy. For outpatient and other services, the new policy will be implemented from March 27.

With this change, the company stated that the bill amount will first be charged to the private insurance plan, and any additional amount will be deducted from Aasandha.

The billing method for "outpatient" services was changed on 31 October 2024. The government then noted that these changes were made to reduce waste.

As such, Aasandha coverage for outpatient services or services received without hospitalization was discontinued for those with private insurance. Similarly, the policy was changed to allow access to Aasandha services once the private insurance package was exhausted.

This change has drawn criticism from several, towards the government. The reinstatement of Aasandha services for those with private insurance, as it was before, comes at a time when the government is in hot water due to continuous protests by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), where the public has been consistently voicing concerns about the changes made to Aasandha services.