What it means
بیمه (bime) means insurance. The word is native Persian, formed from بیم (bim), meaning fear or apprehension, combined with the suffix ه, giving the sense of protection against the feared event. It covers all types of insurance: health, car, life, and property. In medical contexts you will most often hear بیمه درمانی (bime-ye darmâni), health insurance. A related term is بیمهنامه (bime-nâme), an insurance policy document.
How to use it
- بیمه درمانی داری؟ (bime-ye darmâni dâri?) “Do you have health insurance?”
- این دارو رو بیمه پوشش میده؟ (in dâru ro bime pushesh mi-de?) “Does insurance cover this medicine?”
- بیمهام تموم شده، باید تمدید کنم. (bime-am tamum shode, bâyad tamdid konam.) “My insurance has expired, I need to renew it.”
- کارمندای دولت بیمه تامین اجتماعی دارن. (kârmandâ-ye dowlat bime-ye tâmin-e ejtemâyi dâran.) “Government employees have social security insurance.”
Cultural note
Iran operates a multi-tier public insurance system. The two main providers are بیمه تامین اجتماعی (Social Security Insurance), covering most private-sector employees, and بیمه سلامت ایران (Iran Health Insurance), covering civil servants and rural households. Co-payments at clinics and pharmacies vary depending on which fund a patient belongs to, and many Iranians carry a supplementary private insurance card called بیمه تکمیلی (bime-ye takmili) to cover the gap.