Two retirees of the airline Homa (Iran Air) abandoned their treatment halfway and died over the past two to three weeks because they could not pay their hospital bills. Jalal Hashemi, chairman of the board of the Homa Retirees' Association, announced the news on Monday, 26 October 2026, and said the company's retirees are now admitted to hospitals without any insurance cover.
According to Hashemi, out of the 12-month health insurance contract for the Iranian year 1404 (2025-26), Homa paid Iran Insurance the premiums for only two months, leaving ten months unpaid. As a result, Iran Insurance has cut off cover for retirees' inpatient care. He called the situation a disaster and said treating a simple cold now costs three to five million tomans.
Pensions that do not cover the cost of treatment
Homa has about 13,000 retirees and pensioners. According to the head of the association, their average monthly income is about 27 million tomans, and about 5,600 people receive only the minimum pension, a little over 18 million tomans. With current inflation, this sum does not even cover basic living costs, let alone a hospital stay without insurance.
Homa, the Islamic Republic's state airline, has been losing money for years under sanctions, an ageing fleet and incompetent management. The cost of this bankruptcy has now reached hospitals, and retirees who spent their working lives at the company are paying for it with their lives.
The living-standards crisis in the shadow of war and sanctions
The news comes at a time when the soaring prices of medicine and food have crippled the lives of millions of Iranians. Alireza Aghayousefi, head of the Psychology and Counselling Organisation, had warned that Iranian society has reached the threshold of a mental health emergency, and the price of domestically produced super petrol has reached 103,000 tomans per litre.
Homa retirees are admitted to hospital without insurance, and two of them died because they had no money for treatment.
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