As part of the execution of the instructions of the Head of State Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev to increase the efficiency of spending budget funds using digital tools, the Government adopted a number of measures aimed at strengthening financial discipline and reducing unjustified payments.
In the social sphere, approaches to financing medical care and private education were previously revised: digital tools allow identifying violations before transferring funds, excluding manual settlements and directing the budget to actually provided services.
Not only the volume of government spending is changing, but the very approach to managing budget funds - risks and possible violations are revealed even before the transfer of budget funds, and not after payments. Preventive mechanisms are being introduced, data from state information systems are being combined, calculations and verification procedures are being digitized.
The first results of this work already show a measurable financial effect. In the system of mandatory social health insurance (MSHI) for the first half of 2026, anti-fraud mechanisms revealed defects in the amount of more than 4 billion tenge before payments were made. In financing private schools, due to the exclusion of manual calculations and the transition to transparent digital tools, budget savings for September - December 2025 amounted to 8 billion tenge.
Mandatory social health insurance reform: unreasonable payments prevented before payment
In January 2026, in order to improve the efficiency of managing Mandatory health insurance funds, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) was transferred to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
As part of the task set by the President to transform the compulsory health insurance system, in February the implementation of a reform aimed at eliminating the accumulated financial and managerial imbalances began. Particular attention was paid to improving financial discipline and the formation of a new management model with a single digital circuit.
One of the key changes was the transition from follow-up to the prevention of unreasonable payments even before their implementation. For example, if earlier the verification of payments was carried out after the fact - after the money left, now unreasonable payments are prevented before payment. As a result, in the first half of 2026, the anti-fraud system revealed defects worth more than 4 billion tenge before the corresponding funds would be transferred to medical organizations.
Payment for certain types of medical care through the new digital platform Qalqan in the "pilot" in Astana
In parallel, the very model of funding and data management is changing. The entire cycle, from planning and procurement to control and payment for medical care, is combined into a single digital circuit on the Qalqan platform. Now, in a pilot testing on the basis of 207 clinics, 20 out of 92 types of medical care are already being paid through the platform, and another 60 types are being tested. By the end of the year, all declared species are planned to be put into commercial operation. At the same time, Qalqan is not only an instrument of financial control, the platform is also aimed at helping medical organizations manage their financial condition, including reducing chronic accounts payable, as well as reducing the administrative burden on doctors.
At the same time, the changes are not limited to digitalization and increased control. The very model of the Fund's work is being rebuilt. Now the focus is changing: from controlling costs to the effectiveness of funding and the outcome of care. This means that the SHIF will assess not only the volume and cost of services provided, but also what result the patient receives for the funds sent.
Service control via QR code and eGov Mobile
Digitalization is also changing the role of the patient himself. From a passive recipient of medical care, he becomes a participant in the control of services that the state and the SHIF pay on his behalf. Some of these solutions are already working: today the patient can confirm the fact of visiting a medical organization through a QR code in eGov Mobile, in the future this service will be launched in the applications of second-tier banks.
The next stage will be the patient's electronic financial passport, in which information about the medical care provided and paid for will be available. Thus, the transformation of the Mandatory social health insurance involves a transition from simple control of the volume and cost of services to assessing the effectiveness of financing and the final result of medical care. At the moment, the first stage of reforming the Mandatory social health insurance system, aimed at financial discipline, transparency and manageability of the Mandatory social health insurance, has been completed.
In the second half of 2026, the Fund is moving from restructuring to scaling the mechanisms of the new model. The task of the next stage is to convert all the changes made into a specific result:
- for patient - affordable and effective medical care,
- for doctor = clear rules and fair funding model.
It is the changes for the patient and the doctor that will become the main criterion for the effectiveness of all changes.
Paying for real educational services through digital tools
A similar approach was taken in the field of financing private schools by public educational order. As the network of private schools expanded, the amount of funds allocated to finance the state educational order also increased: if in 2020 203 private schools worked in the country, then by 2025 their number reached 745. Such dynamics required a revision of approaches to accounting for student places and calculating the state order in order to make the distribution of funds more accurate and transparent.
To increase funding transparency, in the fall of 2025, the digital service OrtaBilim was launched, which transferred per capita funding for private schools to the e-Qazyna platform of the Ministry of Finance with full automation and the transfer of authority to place government orders to local education departments. At the same time, the authority to place public orders in private schools was transferred to the local level in the education department.
Now the amount of funding is determined automatically on the basis of verified data, including the contingent of students, the conditions for the provision of educational services and the applicable standards. This eliminates dependence on manual calculations and subjective decisions.
The e-Qazyna platform is integrated with performance recording systems, including LMS-systems of the “Kundelik” type, and databases of other government agencies. Checking the contingent of students is carried out in real time, and all operations receive a digital footprint.
8 billion tenge saved due to digitalization of payment in private schools
As a result, due to the exclusion of manual settlements for September-December 2025, budget savings amounted to 8 billion tenge. To date, 899 private schools have been digitized on the platform. In January-May 2026, the operator transparently paid for the acts of 749 schools for a total of 102.9 billion tenge. The digital audit also revealed violations related to the use of buildings not intended for the education of children. 145 such schools have been installed, the volume of the state order for which is 38 billion tenge. We are talking about objects located in cottages, office premises and former production workshops.
From January 1, 2027, the state educational order will be completely discontinued in private schools whose buildings do not have a designated purpose for educational activities. Until that time, the business was given the opportunity to bring the facilities in line with sanitary and urban planning standards. At the same time, the task of the reform is not to reduce support for private education, but to ensure that budget funds are directed to schools that really provide educational services and meet the established requirements.
Public funds - for a specific result
The transformations carried out by the Government in Mandatory social health insurance and financing of private schools are united by one principle - the state should pay not for formal indicators, but for actually rendered services and a specific result. In healthcare, this means moving towards preventive control, digital management of funding and greater transparency for the patient. In education - automatic verification of the contingent, refusal of manual calculations and linking the state order to the actual provision of educational services.
Thus, digitalization is becoming not an end in itself, but a tool to increase the return on budget funds. Identifying unreasonable expenses at an early stage allows you to prevent losses, and the released resources can be directed to really necessary public services.
This work on scaling up the implemented mechanisms will continue. The main criterion for their effectiveness remains a specific result for citizens: for the patient - affordable and high-quality medical care, for the student - safe conditions and high-quality education, for the state - transparent and rational use of budget funds
