CNOPS to CNSS transfer (Law 54.23): what changes for Morocco's civil servants on February 1, 2027

1. Law 54.23: who is concerned, when, and why

Law 54.23 amends and supplements Law 65.00, Morocco's basic medical coverage code. Published in Official Bulletin No. 7478 of January 29, 2026, it entrusts the CNSS with managing the public sector's basic AMO, until now run by CNOPS. The stated goal: a single manager for all of the country's basic AMO schemes (private-sector employees, public sector, self-employed workers, AMO Tadamon).

Why this reform? First, consistency: since AMO was generalized, the CNSS already manages private-sector employees, self-employed workers (AMO Achamil) and AMO Tadamon; the public sector remained the last large population managed separately. Second, finances: the public-sector AMO scheme has run a deficit since 2021 and its reserves are running out, according to analyses published by Morocco's business press (Médias24, LesEco) when the text was adopted.

The project was not unanimous: trade union confederations, including the CDT, opposed it, and in its April 2026 opinion the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE, cese.ma) deemed the reform "insufficient and risky" for the system's equilibrium, calling for safeguards on financing and service quality. These reservations did not alter the legal timetable of the switch.

2. Before/after February 1, 2027: the complete table

What changes on February 1, 2027 is the manager — not the scheme itself. Law 54.23 is a management-transfer law: it modifies neither the contribution rates nor the benefits basket of the public-sector AMO scheme, whose acquired rights are expressly guaranteed.

Civil servants' legitimate concern: the private-sector employees' AMO scheme managed by the CNSS reimburses most outpatient care at 70% of the national reference tariff (TNR), while the public sector's CNOPS schedule stands at 80% for outpatient care and 90% for hospitalization, according to the schedules published by the two funds. That is precisely why the law guarantees the public scheme's acquired rights: the transfer changes the counter, not the contract. Implementing texts published before the switch will set the practical arrangements (cards, identifiers, claim-filing circuits).

3. The 2026-2027 transition calendar

The law deliberately set a twelve-month gap between publication and entry into force, to adopt implementing texts and prepare the technical migration: system interconnection, database transfer, takeover of agreements with healthcare providers.

Until January 31, 2027 inclusive, nothing changes for you: CNOPS remains your contact for reimbursements, coverage approvals and third-party payment, under the usual conditions. The exact handling of reimbursement claims filed just before the switch (deadlines, competent counter) will be set by the implementing texts — systematically keep a copy of every care claim form and every reimbursement statement during this period.

On the tooling side, the CNSS has launched its electronic care claim form project — initially announced for March 2026 according to the specialized press — meant to streamline exchanges between the fund, doctors, pharmacists, laboratories and clinics. Transferred civil servants will eventually use the same digital channels as private-sector employees (CNSS portal and app).

4. Children covered up to 30 and the end of student AMO

This is the most tangible social gain of Law 54.23, and it benefits all basic AMO schemes: the age limit for dependent children's coverage rises from 26 to 30.

• Unmarried dependent children: covered by their parents' AMO up to age 30 (instead of 26), provided they pursue higher education or vocational training at a duly authorized public or private institution
• Children with disabilities: covered with no age limit, an unchanged rule of Law 65.00
• Student AMO (Law 116.12): the standalone scheme is abolished; students switch to their parents' coverage or to CNSS mechanisms while keeping their rights
• Practical consequence: a student in a master's, doctorate or long vocational program no longer needs a separate scheme as long as they remain their parents' dependent

Mind the conditions: coverage up to 30 is not automatic for all young adults. It targets unmarried children enrolled in a recognized higher-education or vocational-training program; a young worker with their own coverage, or someone not enrolled in an eligible program, cannot stay on. The exact supporting documents (enrollment certificate, list of authorized institutions) will be specified by the implementing texts — get ahead by keeping enrollment certificates for every academic year.

5. Contributions and reimbursements: what the law changes (and does not)

Law 54.23 organizes a transfer of management. It contains no new contribution schedule and no new benefits basket for civil servants: the public scheme's current parameters remain governed by the texts in force.

• Active employees' contribution: 2.5% employee share, with a floor of 70 DH and a ceiling of 400 DH per month, matched by the State employer's share, per the rules published by CNOPS (cnops.org.ma)
• Retirees' contribution: 2.5% of the pension, within the same floor and ceiling
• Public scheme reimbursements: 80% of the TNR for outpatient care, 90% for hospitalization, with enhanced rates for long-term conditions, per the CNOPS schedule
• Public employers: in case of failure to register with the CNSS, the employer remains liable for the contributions due, plus a penalty of 3% for the first month of delay then 0.5% per additional month

Should you fear a downward alignment onto the private-sector employees' scheme (70% of the TNR for outpatient care per the CNSS)? Under the current texts, no: the legislator explicitly guaranteed the acquired rights of public-sector insured members, and no text published to date modifies civil servants' contribution rates or reimbursement levels. It is, however, a point to watch over time: the CESE itself stresses that unifying management alone does not solve the transferred scheme's financial equilibrium, and long-term harmonization of the schemes remains an open question.

Our budget advice: count on neither a rise nor a fall in your reimbursements in 2027. Plan at constant coverage, and work instead on the item you control: out-of-pocket costs (co-payments, fee overruns in private practice, dental and optical care beyond ceilings), which depend on your mutual society and supplementary health plan.

6. What happens to CNOPS, its staff and the mutual societies?

The law organizes a complete substitution: the CNSS takes over CNOPS's rights and obligations related to public-sector AMO, including the agreements concluded with mutual societies and healthcare providers. The scheme's accounts (assets, liabilities, bank balances) as well as the property, archives and documents related to public AMO are transferred to the CNSS free of charge. The fund's precise institutional future beyond this transfer is left to the implementing texts.

CNOPS staff — permanent, probationary and contractual employees in post on the entry-into-force date — are integrated into the CNSS with a legal guarantee: their statutory situation cannot be less favorable than before, and seniority acquired at CNOPS counts as served at CNSS. They keep their basic and supplementary pension schemes, with the corresponding contributions maintained.

Essential point for insured members: the public sector's eight sectoral mutual societies (MGPAP, MGEN, OMFAM and the others) are not disappearing. They continue to provide their members' supplementary coverage — the layer on top of basic AMO — and third-party payment is maintained through the agreements taken over by the CNSS for a period to be set by regulation. Your mutualist contributions and supplementary benefits (dental, optical, social works) follow their own rules, distinct from Law 54.23.

7. The wafir.ma angle: your supplementary coverage during and after the transition

The management transfer does not remove out-of-pocket costs. Before and after February 1, 2027, basic AMO reimburses on the basis of the national reference tariff — often below the fees actually charged in private practice — and leaves a co-payment on most procedures. Supplementary coverage therefore remains the real lever of your healthcare budget.

• Do not cancel your sectoral mutual during the transition: supplementary coverage is not affected by Law 54.23, and a coverage gap would leave you paying fee overruns in full
• Update your dependents before the switch: spouse, children aged 26 to 30 newly eligible again (with an enrollment or training certificate) — a file that is current on the CNOPS side will migrate cleanly to the CNSS
• Archive your proofs: membership certificates, reimbursement statements, children's enrollment certificates — useful if the migration produces anomalies
• Consider a top-up plan if your actual care exceeds mutualist ceilings (orthodontics, optical, private-clinic hospitalization): compare guarantees rather than prices alone
• Trust only official channels — cnss.ma, cnops.org.ma and your mutual society — for any announcement on cards, identifiers and 2027 procedures

To choose or strengthen supplementary coverage suited to your civil-servant profile — age, family composition, recurring care —, our comparison of mutual and supplementary health plans in Morocco details guarantees, ceilings and prices by profile. And if your household includes a student over 26, review their situation now: attaching them to your AMO until age 30 is one of the simplest savings to activate in 2027.