Full subscription of Saudi employees working at private sector firms to medical insurance is poised to raise the insurance market to more than SR30 billion annually, an expert told local media.

The insurance sector in the Kingdom is the fastest growing one due to continued updates to its regulations in the market, Mahir Al-Jiairi, an insurance expert, told Al-Hayat daily.

He admitted that deep differences exist between the insurance companies and medical service providers (hospitals) but, however, will come to end over time in light of the ongoing cooperation mechanisms between the two parties.

Obligation of the patient to pay part of the treatment cost will help minimize unnecessary visits to hospitals, the expert said.

A spokesman of the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) said the number of Saudis and non-Saudis included in the health insurance system stood at 2.18 million and 6.1 million, respectively. Regulations of the cooperative health insurance are currently under review, Naif Al-Rifi told the daily.

He said the rate of Saudis and non-Saudis registered in the health insurance system increased by 5.8 percent this year. The number of insurance companies engaged in medical insurance reaches 28 whereas the number of medical service providers stands at 2,206, he added.

Meanwhile, Fahad Al-Inizi, Shoura Council member and insurance expert, affirmed that the insurance system regulates relations between the three parties — the insurance companies, which are entrusted to pay costs of medical services for the insured in accordance with the set regulations; the employers (business owners) who are obliged to give insurance coverage to their employees; and the medical service providers who have to negotiate with insurance firms on how to provide services based on the agreed prices.

He added that the future of insurance industry in the Kingdom is promising. It is correlated with a number of factors, including to what extent is the health sector prepared to absorb the growing number of the insured, and the existence of new health and insurance products.