RIYADH, 14 May 2006 — More than 50 percent of the expatriate population in the Kingdom has yet to be covered by the mandatory health insurance scheme.

This was announced by Abdullah Al-Sharif, secretary general of the Council for Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) at the Ministry of Health, and Saleh Alomair, manager of Taj Medical Insurance at the NCCI. The occasion was a press conference where the company signed an agreement for providing insurance cover to the expatriate employees of BAE Systems.

Alomair signed the agreement on behalf of the CCHI, while Charles McNulty of Interserve Marsh, manager for commercial support, signed it on behalf of the British company. Sid Obied, Saad Al-Marzoqi and Saleh Al-Subail, senior officials from the CCHI and Interserve, a major British insurance brokerage firm, were also present.

Referring to the status of the health insurance scheme in the Kingdom, Al-Sharif said the council would kick-start within eight weeks a review of the progress achieved so far in providing health insurance cover to expatriates. This would enable them to identify shortcomings, if any, in the system and take corrective measures. One of them, already being implemented, includes the provision of health insurance coverage prior to the issuance of an iqama as laid down in Article 144 of the new labor law.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Al-Omair said there was a huge potential for the growth of the health insurance sector whose contribution to the Kingdom’s GDP does not exceed 0.5 percent. However, the sector was poised for a rapid growth with the implementation of the new labor law. Three years later, Saudis would also come within the purview of the health insurance scheme, when 16 million citizens will be covered under a phased program. Alomair said the CCHI has signed contracts with 26 hospitals and medical centers in Riyadh, Dhahran, Alkhobar and Jubail, Khamis Mushayt, Taif, Jeddah, Tabuk and other places.

Referring to the health insurance agreement with BAE Systems applicable to its expatriate employees, he pointed out that the maximum coverage of this contract to every single beneficiary was SR250,000 annually according to the system.

The coverage includes outpatient and inpatient health services, as well as delivery and dental care. Alomair described the agreement as a good beginning for medical cooperative insurance scheme as it will encourage other companies to follow suit.