Optimizing primary healthcare financing for universal health coverage in Lebanon
A comprehensive analysis
Highlights
Lebanon’s primary healthcare (PHC) system is facing mounting pressures due to compounding crises and a chronically constrained financing model. More than half of the population lacks formal health coverage, while out-of-pocket (OOP) payments have risen sharply from 33% in 2018 to over 85% in 2022, limiting access for many households. The PHC system relies extensively on international donors and NGOs, which has contributed to variations in financing, service delivery and standards of care.
This memo provides an analysis of Lebanon’s PHC financing structure across six components: benefit package design, cost analysis of the LPSP model, capital and operational expenditures, fiscal space analysis, drug procurement savings, and provider payment mechanisms.
