In 2010, the government of Mali introduced a compulsory health insurance scheme with third-party payment for civil servants and workers to guarantee affordable health care.

In 2011, the National Sickness Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance maladie (CNAM)) concluded agreements with all public agencies, in particular with hospitals, referral health centres and community health centres.

Following complaints from insured persons about access to medical care in hospitals, the CNAM decided to set up an administration service in hospitals with the main objective of facilitating access of insured persons to their guaranteed medical services. This was achieved by opening an administrative services counter in hospitals, called the "AMO Area". The AMO agent verifies the identity of the insured person, completes the administrative part of the care sheet and returns it to the person for presentation to a doctor. All these services were formerly provided by the hospitals at the admissions desk, leading to numerous complaints from insured persons.