Insurance companies have called for more stringent measures to crack down on those illegally using the cards.

Abdul Aziz, a 23-year-old Saudi who enjoys “A” grade health insurance services from his father’s employer, did not mind lending his card to his friend, who was suffering from a swelling in his eye.

The two friends went to a private hospital where they handed in the insurance card. Aziz’s friend was diagnosed with severe cornea complications. Abdul Aziz does not see any harm in lending his card to his friend. “I see no problem with this, as my friend is sick and I have insurance, which thank God I don’t use often. So why not I am ready to give it to any of my family or friends who needs it.”

Abdul Aziz is not the only one. Umm Faisal, a mother of three whose monthly salary is SR4,000, said that her brother offered to take her to hospital using his wife’s insurance card. “I was in pain. The doctor diagnosed me with a urinary tract infection and said that my file shows that I had suffered from it during my first pregnancy,” said Umm Faisal. “However, in this case he was referring to my sister-in-law’s file. My concern was only to receive tests and the medication. I laughed to myself when he was referring to the file,”she said.

Afaf, who is in her early 20s and works in a school for SR2,600 a month, said that a family member offered her insurance card to help get her troublesome eyes checked.

“It was the first time that I did it. I almost made a mistake when the doctor asked me my age. I was about to say my real age, and then I remembered that my cousin is in her mid-30s.”

An administrative employee at a private hospital in Madinah told Arab News two non-Saudi women were caught exchanging their insurance cards.

“One of the women wanted to do the mandatory test prior to renewing her iqama. But she asked her friend to come and take the tests instead. She was caught out by a coworker who spotted the difference in skin color between the Iqama photo and the friend.”

A source at a private hospital in Jeddah told Arab News that it should be the insurance companies’ responsibility to monitor these illegal practices by checking identification cards before approving the payment of fees for patients.

A source at an insurance company said that they have up to 20 cases of insurance card misuse every year in the Kingdom.

According to him, these cases are discovered when the diagnosed diseases do not match the age of the cardholder, or when a patient is diagnosed with an infection in the gallbladder despite previous records saying he had it removed. People who are caught giving out their insurance cards are banned from enjoying the benefits and asked to pay back the treatment costs, explained the source. Dr. Mohammad Qutoub, who works at a local hospital, said that these practices are considered medical violations.

He explained that before receiving any insurance the person must read and sign the rules and regulations that states who is authorized to use the card.

Another problem is when a patient has an allergy to a particular medication or food. If the card has been abused by number of people then that can be confusing for the doctor and dangerous to the patient. To reduce such practices, Qutoub suggested that hospital receptionists should be more vigilant when confirming the identity of the cardholder.