mutuelle

17:22 Mar 16, 2019 

Yes, but passing a law doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be applicable any time soon, esp. if the money isn't there (Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world). La naissance de cette nouvelle structure [Burkina Faso's CNAMU], chargée de concevoir et de mettre en place tout le dispositif nécessaire à la construction et au déploiement du système d’Assurance Maladie Universelle marque l’opérationnalisation de l’Assurance Maladie Universelle pour l’année 2019 (http://fonction-publique.gov.bf/index.php/87-accueil/488-cer... In other words, it's still not 'operational'. Wait and see... Meanwhile, teachers are trying to organise themselves and foreign (sister) orgs are ready to help them - which is what the text is about : projet de création d’une mutuelle au Burkina Faso. Also, "supplementary/secondary" is usually translated as complémentaire and "mutual" is mutuel.

16:49 Mar 16, 2019 

True, in countries where the mutuelle is the only insurance coverage, we should just say "mutual" and not secondary or complementary. But apparently Burkina Faso has universal health insurance. The first link in your answer says that a law on universal coverage was to be introduced in 2015, and according to this, it passed: http://www.informateur.info/burkina-faso-le-gouvernement-cre...

12:45 Mar 16, 2019 

implies that there is a "primary" insurance, and that's certainly the case in countries where there is a form of state insurance scheme (roughly, Sécu, NHS, etc.). It may not be the case everywhere, especially in poorer countries, and Africa has unfortunately more than its fair share of (extremely) poor countries. Hence the idea of mutual insurance companies, that employees in a particular profession will contribute to, even though it's still far from usual in Africa. Incidentally, that's how it all started among French miners in the XIXth century years before anyone thought the State should step in. Similar, as far as I know, to provident associations that existed in the UK. In addition, secondary insurance is not necessarily provided by mutual insurance companies - private companies can do it as well. Verity's text is clearly about mutual insurance companies.

09:36 Mar 16, 2019 

It's supplemental/supplementary/complementary health insurance.
And a Mutual Insurance company (an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders).

19:43 Mar 15, 2019 

In France, everyone has la sécurité sociale ("la sécu," state-run health insurance). It provides excellent coverage, but not 100%. Some things may be reimbursed at 60%, 70%, etc.

If you want more coverage, as well as coverage for the few "bells and whistles" (luxuries) not covered by la sécu, you may be able to buy a plan from a mutuelle. So for a given hospital stay or medicine or whatever, you might have 60% of the bill paid by la sécu and another 30% paid by the mutuelle, so you only have to pay 10% yourself.

What mutuelle plans are available to you may depend on your profession or situation in life (e.g. there are mutuelle plans just for university students, or in this case, just for teachers).

If you want to be more clear in your translation you could add the word "secondary" ("mutual secondary insurance company"), because coverage from mutuelles is what we call secondary insurance in the US. For instance, Americans over age 65 automatically get Medicare, but they can also buy a secondary plan that does exactly what French mutuelles do.

Background: https://www.lelynx.fr/mutuelle-sante/contrat/definition/