Social Insurance Technical Assistance Project

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The objective of the Social Insurance Technical Assistance Project for Bosnia and Herzegovina is to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of health and pension insurance systems by provision of high quality technical assistance and training to help implement existing reforms and t o help design options for future social insurance reforms. There are three main components. Component 1 1) helps develops a policy framework for social insurance by supporting the expansion of coverage and portability of health care and pension benefits for farmers and the self-employed; 2) identifies and implements mechanisms to consolidate the social insurance revenue collection and enforcement system in a manner consistent with the broader direction of tax administration reform; 3) helps develop options to address two issues, that is, risk-pooling and rationalization of service provision, and specifically finances technical assistance, training, and office equipment to identify options for mitigating the consequences of low-risk pooling and for developing a master plan to utilize health services; 4) within the framework of developing contracts to purchase health services, it helps develop better performance measures, such as provider output and quality indicators, as well as helps establish a system to better determine and monitor costs of providing various health services; and 5) reviews options for medium-term systemic reforms of the pension system, and assists the government in designing the future system, and assesses the necessary pre-conditions for future introduction of funded privately managed pensions. It also finances consultancy services, limited equipment, and training for activities on the entitlement side of the pension system. The component will support: (a) development and refinement of overall strategic goals, institutional mandates, and business planning in the health and pensions sectors. This will include investments for strengthening the capability of staff within the organizations to carry out their policy and service provision roles, and (b) effective execution of activities under the Policy Framework Component, along with effective implementation of already approved health and pension reforms. In addition, the project will help strengthen the information technology (IT) capacity of the beneficiary institutions to: (I) harmonize data systems across social institutions through the development and establishment of data and technology standards; (ii) strengthen the IT support capacity of the institutions through technology training, and minor upgrading of equipment and data communications networks to enable data sharing and to form the basis for implementing harmonized data systems with increased data information flow among institutions; and (iii) establish key indicator data for all institutions to support policy formulation and monitor program implementation in a timely and effective manner. The component will finance technical assistance and generic training on good management practices. Emphasis would be on communications, information technology, and exposure to good practice through training and study tours, regionally and internationally, in policy and administrative reforms in the pensions and health sectors. This component will also enhance the technical and management skills of staff in the Ministries of Health, Ministries of Labor, Pension and Health Insurance Funds, Tax Administrations, and Ministry of Civil Affairs. Component 3 supports project implementation.