JEDDAH, 21 March 2008 — Minister of Social Affairs Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas has announced that his ministry plans to provide health coverage to all social security beneficiaries. He said the move was taken in order to reduce the financial burden on poor families and individuals.

“Health care is one of the major requirements of beneficiaries of social insurance because it involves huge expenses,” Al-Akkas said.

At present nearly 1.5 million Saudis receive pension and financial assistance from the ministry and the government has allocated SR5.2 billion for that purpose. Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Manie, in a related development, revealed his ministry’s plan to apply a cooperative health insurance scheme on all Saudis, including those who work in government departments from the beginning of next year.

The Health Ministry has already introduced the scheme on four million of the nearly eight million expatriates in the Kingdom. “We hope that the scheme will be applied to all expatriates by the end of this year,” the minister said.

In an earlier statement, Khaled Al-Mirghalani, spokesman for the Health Ministry, said a national cooperative fund would be established to provide free health insurance coverage for all Saudis. “The new health insurance scheme will cover all Saudi citizens except those who are already provided coverage by their employers,” he told Arab News.

Saudis receiving insurance coverage under the new plan will be entitled to receive free medical service at private and public hospitals, the spokesman said.

Mirghalani said the fund would provide health coverage to more than 12 million citizens with financial assistance given by the government. The new system comes as part of a major restructuring plan for the country’s health sector.

Faisal Al-Zaidan, manager of an insurance company, urged authorities to explore the possibility of using zakah for meeting health insurance expenditures of the poor and needy families. According to a study conducted by a charitable organization in Riyadh, there are at least 3,700 poor families who require health insurance. The monthly assistance they receive from charities is not enough to meet hospital expenses.

Speaking about the modality of the scheme, Zaidan said a businessman could pay his zakah or donation to an insurance company, which has a list of poor families and individuals needing health insurance.

Insan Charitable Society in Riyadh has introduced the system and provides health insurance to all orphans in its care.