- No sign yet
Details and sources
- Promised
- The only report before the 29 August 2025 election that we found naming the pledge is a Samoa Observer summary of 28 August 2025, the day before polling 5. It lists FAST's health pledge as 'Insurance for all', with no amount, model or start date 5. The same Samoa Observer summary says the manifesto offers free visits and medicines for pregnant women, children, older people and people with disabilities 6. FAST launched its manifesto at the Apita o Pisaga Hall in Salelologa, Savaiʻi, on 12 July 2025 7. Talamua's launch report does not mention insurance 7. RNZ Pacific's list of FAST pledges of 22 July 2025 starts with free public hospital services and does not mention insurance either 8. The Samoa Observer's launch report of 12 July 2025 led with free hospital services 9. The rest of that report is behind a paywall, so we could not check whether it mentions insurance 10. We did not find the 2025 manifesto itself. On 15 September 2026 the Samoa Observer published a review of the government's first year 11. Its free opening lines list pensions, a SAT$6 minimum wage, tax cuts, SAT$2 million for every district and Samoa Airways 11. The rest of that review is behind a paywall, so we could not check whether it restates the insurance pledge 12. The promise is not new. On 31 March 2021 the Samoa Observer reported that FAST's 2021 manifesto vowed a medical insurance scheme for all people, supported by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and the National Provident Fund 13. FAST first took power in July 2021 14. On 19 June 2023, under that first FAST government, the Samoa Observer reported that the ACC Minister had announced talks on health insurance for all workers 15. A Press Secretariat statement of 28 August 2026 summed up the manifesto's main pledges without mentioning insurance 16.
- What happened
- The 2025/26 budget address of 6 October 2025 and the 2026/27 budget address of 26 May 2026 do not mention insurance 171819. Both fund overseas treatment instead 1718. We searched the full Approved Estimates for both years and found no health insurance scheme under any name 23. The only 'insurance' line in the Health vote insures buildings: SAT$650,000 a year for hospitals, head office and medicine warehouses 20. Parliament's bills page lists no health insurance bill for 2025 or 2026 1. The one step we found is in the SNPF chief executive's job description, posted in March 2026 and again in April 2026 421. It lists, as a year-one deliverable, a medical insurance scheme 'for members' and their families, not for everyone 224. On 18 July 2026 the government announced that Cabinet had appointed Lealali Faletoese Asaua as SNPF chief executive for three years 23. On 1 July 2026 SNPF chairman Tagaloa Eddie Wilson said a five-year Strategic Direction was complete but not yet published 24. The Samoa Observer's report of his remarks does not mention health insurance 24. We found no public report since then of an insurance scheme being designed, sent to Cabinet or approved. The legal basis for a scheme is already written into the National Provident Fund Act. The Act sets up an SNPF Health Care Scheme 25. It lets the SNPF Board set up a medical insurance scheme called the 'Medinsure Scheme' 26. It sets an employer contribution of 6 sene for each tala of wages 27. The employer may take half of it from the worker's pay 28. That deduction is barred for a worker paid below the minimum wage 29. The Act's list of commencement dates does not name these parts, so we could not confirm whether they are in force 30. The scheme has a long history. RNZ reported on 10 July 2006 that Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa's government had suspended a plan for medical insurance for public servants and private-sector workers 3132. RNZ said the plan had been strongly criticised by the Opposition and the public before that year's election 33. A 2007 World Bank report also said the government cancelled Medisave 34. Talamua reported on 10 December 2024 that the scheme was endorsed by the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and passed in 2005 35. Papaliʻi Panoa Tavita Moala, SNPF chairman at the time of that report, was SNPF chief executive in 2005 36. He said the scheme was signed by the Head of State on 22 April 2022 but never put into effect 37. Talamua's report does not explain the two dates 37. In a Samoa Observer report of a December 2024 consultation, Papaliʻi said he did not blame the government of the time 'but the officials' who were there after he left 38. On 22 February 2025 the Samoa Observer reported a different account from HRPP secretary and Faleata No. 3 MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi: he said the previous government 'did not approve' and 'we shelved it' 39. The 2006 RNZ report says the government suspended the plan 31. A Samoa Observer editorial of 2 April 2025 said a paper on the Medi-Insure scheme had been put to Cabinet 40. On 3 July 2025 Talamua reported the scheme was 'on hold' because Parliament had rejected the budget 41. What this government did fund is overseas treatment. The 2024/25 budget, set before this government took office, gave it SAT$6 million 3. This government doubled it to SAT$12 million in 2025/26 and kept SAT$12 million in 2026/27 17218. The fiscal report for the nine months to 31 March 2026 shows SAT$500,000 of unforeseen spending on overseas treatment 42. On 7 May 2026 the Samoa Observer reported that Cabinet had approved an extra SAT$2 million after the Prime Minister said a SAT$10 million allocation was used up 43. The Samoa Observer noted the budget said SAT$12 million 44. On 1 September 2026 Talamua reported that Cabinet had approved treatment abroad for 18 patients at about SAT$800,000 45. On 30 September 2026 it reported approval for 16 patients at about SAT$1 million 4647. On 20 October 2026 it reported approval for 10 more patients 48.
- Impact on families
- No one is covered, because no scheme exists 4. We found no enrolment, premium or claims figures. Families still pay when the public system runs short. On 24 July 2026 a father of six told ABC Pacific that prescriptions he once got for SAT$5 at the hospital pharmacy now cost more than SAT$200 at private pharmacies 4950. ABC reported Health Minister Vaʻaaoao Salumalo Alofipo as saying the shortage came from the previous government's failure to pay overseas suppliers 51. This is the Minister's claim; we found no published finding that tests it and no public reply from ministers who served before September 2025. In a letter to the Samoa Observer published on 12 November 2025, the Minister had pointed instead to global shipping disruptions, rising freight costs and drug-making delays since COVID-19 83. ABC reported that about half of those debts had been settled 52. The Samoa Observer on 20 July 2026, citing the government's Savali newspaper, reported the Minister saying orders from 2020 to 2025 had been paid 5553. The two reports do not agree. The Minister told ABC that 104 medicines had become scarce in the government's first nine months and nine were still scarce 54. The same Samoa Observer report says the Minister finds the 2026/27 health budget not enough for future medicine orders 5556. On 30 September 2026 Talamua reported that Cabinet had approved medicine supply contracts with six companies 57. The contracts run for 24 months 58. Talamua reported that Cabinet also approved 'the privatization of procurement of medical supplies' 59. For patients needing care abroad, the overseas treatment scheme, not insurance, is what pays 48.
- Cost
- We found no cost for FAST's insurance pledge; the Samoa Observer's 28 August 2025 summary lists it without an amount 5. That summary put health spending near SAT$160 million and said the HRPP and FAST health pledges could double it 60. For SNPF's Medi-Insure design, a Samoa Observer editorial from 2025, whose exact date we could not confirm, said start-up would be SAT$28 million, with SAT$20 million expected from the government and ACC 61. That editorial also said the government would spend SAT$20 million extra each year 62. A Samoa Observer editorial of 2 April 2025 refers instead to a SAT$12 million government contribution, so the sources do not agree 63. The 2 April 2025 editorial also said the ACC law does not allow ACC to give money to the scheme 64. SAT$20 million a year would be about 11% of the SAT$183.4 million Ministry of Health budget for 2026/27 65. The 2026/27 budget already projects a cash deficit of about SAT$215.9 million, or 3.1% of GDP 66. Overseas treatment alone is budgeted at SAT$12 million in 2026/27 2. Sources give other figures for it: Talamua said in April 2026 that it averages SAT$20 million a year, and in July 2026 it cited an annual budget of NZ$12 million 6768.
- Verdict for families
- Cuts both ways
- Can it be done?
- Not realistic
- Long term
- Too early to tell
- Who deserves the credit
-
Started by an earlier government
This government has added no law, budget line or scheme for health insurance; its one step is a members-only duty in the 2026 SNPF chief executive job description 412. Its own decision in this area was to double overseas treatment funding to SAT$12 million in 2025/26, which is not insurance 17. The idea and the law are inherited: the scheme Talamua reported as passed in 2005, the NPF plan suspended in 2006, FAST's 2021 manifesto, and the SNPF design consulted on in December 2024 and put on hold in July 2025 3531136941.
- Who gains
- Nobody yet; if built as SNPF described in December 2024, each member and three beneficiaries would have 80% of local care costs paid, with help for care overseas 767480.
- Who pays
- Under the SNPF plans, members' retirement savings pay (6% of current contributions or a SAT$300 annual premium in Papaliʻi's December 2024 account, SAT$300 a year in the March 2025 report), patients pay 20% of local costs, people outside SNPF may keep paying full prices, and the government would add SAT$20 million a year by one editorial's estimate 818273747762.
- Assessment
- We rate the promise stalled: 13 months in, there is no scheme, bill or budget line, only one SNPF job duty 124. We judge 'insurance for all' not feasible on present evidence. A 2013 World Bank paper found formal jobs were only 11% of the population in 2010/11, and it called social health insurance premature 7071. The SNPF plans we found would pay for cover from members' retirement savings: in December 2024 Papaliʻi spoke of 6% of current contributions and of a SAT$300 annual premium, and on 1 March 2025 the Samoa Observer reported SAT$300 a year 728273. Patients would still pay 20% of local costs 74. A flat SAT$300 fee weighs most on low-wage workers; the 6% version would take more from higher earners, as a Samoa Observer editorial noted 75. Papaliʻi said the scheme would be open to people outside SNPF, but a Samoa Observer editorial of 2 April 2025 raised concern that non-contributors would keep paying full prices 7677. The verdict is mixed. Help with overseas and private bills would ease real costs for families. That holds only if the scheme is paid for fairly and the public hospital, where most treatment would happen, has medicines and staff 785679.
Sources (83)
- Bills, Acts and Regulations – Parliament of Samoa
- General Estimates 2026–2027 (Approved Budget Document FY26-27), Ministry of Health
- General Estimates 2025–2026 (Approved Budget Document FY25-26), Ministry of Health
- Chief Executive Officer, Samoa National Provident Fund, Job Description 2026
- What the three major parties are promising Samoa
- What the three major parties are promising Samoa
- FAST Party Manifesto Centres on the Family Unit
- Samoa election: Political parties make big promises on health, welfare and economy
- FAST manifesto: Free hospital, money for poor and launch of stock exchange
- FAST manifesto: Free hospital, money for poor and launch of stock exchange
- FAST Government one year on: What has been delivered and what remains
- FAST Government one year on: What has been delivered and what remains
- Political party pledges for health sector
- POLITICAL OPINION: When Truth Becomes the Casualty of Political Power
- Medical insurance cover in the pipeline
- POLITICAL OPINION: When Truth Becomes the Casualty of Political Power
- Budget Address FY2025-2026
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Sāmoa returns to borrowing as debt falls and lenders open doors
- General Estimates 2026–2027 (Approved Budget Document FY26-27), Ministry of Health
- Chief Executive Officer, Samoa National Provident Fund, Job Description 2026
- Chief Executive Officer, Samoa National Provident Fund, Job Description 2026
- Cabinet announces appointment of SNPF new CEO
- SNPF announces $61M dividend
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- National Provident Fund Act 1972 (consolidated)
- Samoan government suspend plans for medical insurance
- Samoan government suspend plans for medical insurance
- Samoan government suspend plans for medical insurance
- Implementation Completion and Results Report: Samoa Health Sector Management Project
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- SNPF health scheme to be compulsory
- Calls made to protest SNPF health scheme
- Bunk, drivel and gibberish. The claims for compulsory healthcare scheme
- SNPF Contributors get $45.5M in 4% Payout
- Government of Samoa fiscal report for the 9 months ended 31 March 2026 (Quarter 3 FY26), unforeseen expenditures
- Hit-and-run probe team formed, extra $2M for overseas medical
- Hit-and-run probe team formed, extra $2M for overseas medical
- $800,000 medical bill for 18 patients’ overseas treatment
- Cabinet holds circulation of $100 Tala Commemorative Note
- Cabinet holds circulation of $100 Tala Commemorative Note
- Deputy Prime Minister to Lead Samoa’s Delegation to CHOGM 2026
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- Health Minister: Budget not enough for future medicine orders
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- Health Minister: Budget not enough for future medicine orders
- Health Minister: Budget not enough for future medicine orders
- Cabinet holds circulation of $100 Tala Commemorative Note
- Cabinet holds circulation of $100 Tala Commemorative Note
- Cabinet holds circulation of $100 Tala Commemorative Note
- What the three major parties are promising Samoa
- A referendum is needed for the healthcare scheme
- A referendum is needed for the healthcare scheme
- Bunk, drivel and gibberish. The claims for compulsory healthcare scheme
- Bunk, drivel and gibberish. The claims for compulsory healthcare scheme
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Government Spends $300,000 more for Overseas Medical Treatment
- Government to Address Samoan RSE Workers Serious Health Issues
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Health-Financing Options for Samoa: Challenges and Opportunities
- Health-Financing Options for Samoa: Challenges and Opportunities
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Only $300 deducted annually in SNPF medical scheme
- SNPF health scheme to be compulsory
- A flawed medical scheme that deprives contributors
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Bunk, drivel and gibberish. The claims for compulsory healthcare scheme
- A referendum is needed for the healthcare scheme
- Samoa health system grapples with medicine supply
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- A flawed medical scheme that deprives contributors
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Samoa government response: Strengthening Samoa’s health system beyond short-term supply challenges
Is it funded?
No budget line
We found no health insurance line in either year's Approved Estimates or budget address 1234. We searched the Health vote (outputs, grants, Transactions on Behalf of the State and donor tables), the Finance vote and the aid annexes for insurance, medisave, medinsure, medical scheme, health cover and universal health. The only 'insurance' line in Health is SAT$650,000 a year to insure buildings 5. A SAT$691,563 Asian Development Bank technical assistance item, 'Developing Regional Universal Health Coverage Growth Project', is listed as in-kind aid to the Ministry of Health for 2026/27 6. The Estimates do not say what it pays for. The nearest spending line is the Overseas Medical Treatment Scheme: SAT$6 million in 2024/25, then SAT$12 million in each of 2025/26 and 2026/27 21. The fiscal report for the nine months to 31 March 2026 shows SAT$500,000 of unforeseen spending on overseas treatment 7. When Cabinet added SAT$2 million, the Prime Minister put the allocation at SAT$10 million 8. The Samoa Observer noted the budget said SAT$12 million 9. The 2025/26 budget address said no supplementary budget was intended, and we found none for 2025/26 on Parliament's bills page 1011.
Sources (11)
- General Estimates 2026–2027 (Approved Budget Document FY26-27), Ministry of Health
- General Estimates 2025–2026 (Approved Budget Document FY25-26), Ministry of Health
- Budget Address FY2025-2026
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- General Estimates 2026–2027 (Approved Budget Document FY26-27), Ministry of Health
- General Estimates 2026–2027 (Approved Budget Document FY26-27), development partner aid-in-kind
- Government of Samoa fiscal report for the 9 months ended 31 March 2026 (Quarter 3 FY26), unforeseen expenditures
- Hit-and-run probe team formed, extra $2M for overseas medical
- Hit-and-run probe team formed, extra $2M for overseas medical
- Budget Address FY2025-2026
- Bills, Acts and Regulations – Parliament of Samoa
What research says
Research mostly warns against it
Studies of small Pacific states mostly find contributory health insurance hard to make work 12. A 2013 World Bank paper called social health insurance in Samoa 'premature at this stage' 1. The World Bank paper said such insurance works when the formal sector is large enough to raise money and share risk 3. In Samoa formal jobs numbered 20,745 in 2010/11, just 11% of the population 4. A 2018 Devpolicy review of World Bank assessments in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati called social, private and community health insurance 'not feasible' ways to raise money for health 52. The Devpolicy review advised keeping out-of-pocket costs low so risk is pooled and access stays fair 6. In Palau, the Island Times reported on 14 February 2025 that the Health Care Fund's own report found national health insurance stays viable only through investment income and government subsidies 7. Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr. said the 2.5% employer contribution is 'the fixed amount we have' 8. Samoa has tried before. The government suspended an NPF insurance plan in 2006 after criticism from the Opposition and the public 914. A 2007 World Bank report said Medisave, a form of health insurance proposed by the NPF, was cancelled 1011. Samoa's Health Sector Plan 2019–2030 says to keep cutting the overseas treatment budget step by step and move the money to prevention and public health 12. The SNPF design was pitched as also paying for care overseas 13. The studies fit Samoa as a small Pacific state with few formal jobs, but they date from 2013 and 2018 42.
Sources (14)
- Health-Financing Options for Samoa: Challenges and Opportunities
- Making health dollars go further in the Pacific
- Health-Financing Options for Samoa: Challenges and Opportunities
- Health-Financing Options for Samoa: Challenges and Opportunities
- Making health dollars go further in the Pacific
- Making health dollars go further in the Pacific
- Palau Health Care Fund’s Stability Relies on Investment Returns
- Palau Health Care Fund’s Stability Relies on Investment Returns
- Samoan government suspend plans for medical insurance
- Implementation Completion and Results Report: Samoa Health Sector Management Project
- Implementation Completion and Results Report: Samoa Health Sector Management Project
- Samoa Health Sector Plan FY2019/20 – FY2029/30
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Samoan government suspend plans for medical insurance
Cost and reach
No scheme exists, so its cost and reach today are zero; the 2026 SNPF job description still lists building one for members 1. A Samoa Observer editorial said the SNPF design needed SAT$20 million extra from the government each year 2. In December 2024 SNPF chairman Papaliʻi said the scheme aimed to cover everyone, from a child to contributors and non-contributors 3. He put the annual premium at SAT$300, covering three beneficiaries 45. A Samoa Observer editorial of 2 April 2025 said the SAT$300 deduction would apply to 34,000 members 6. Papaliʻi also spoke of 40,000 people if 20% of the population were sick, and said reinsuring them might cost SAT$78 million 78. We found no official count of people who would be covered, so we leave cost and reach blank.
Sources (8)
- Chief Executive Officer, Samoa National Provident Fund, Job Description 2026
- A referendum is needed for the healthcare scheme
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- The SNPF Healthcare Scheme to Benefit All
- Bunk, drivel and gibberish. The claims for compulsory healthcare scheme
- SNPF health scheme to be compulsory
- SNPF health scheme to be compulsory
Helps: Wage workers · Children
Paid for by: Wage workers · Taxpayers · Low-income families
Folafolaga · https://folafolaga.pages.dev/promises/fast-health-insurance/ · Printed from the version last checked 23 October 2026. Every claim's source is listed on that page.