JEDDAH, 4 June — The Council of Ministers meeting here yesterday under the chairmanship of Prince Abdullah, the regent, approved the new health law, which regulates health services in the Kingdom.
Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy said the new law directs the Health Ministry to set out a health strategy and establish a full-fledged health care network covering all parts of the country.
"The law allows the transfer of the ownership of some hospitals under the ministry to the private sector," Al-Farsy said, adding that the transfer proposals made by the minister should be approved by the Cabinet.
According to the law, health care for expatriates living in the Kingdom will be provided on the basis of the Cooperative Insurance System and its executive laws.
The law allowed the health minister to take appropriate decisions on providing health services to pilgrims during the Haj season. More than two million people including about 1.3 million from abroad, take part in the annual pilgrimage.
As per the new law, a health service council will be established under the chairmanship of the health minister to set out the Kingdom’s health strategy and take policy decisions on health matters.
The new health law, which has been endorsed by the consultative Shoura Council, aims at providing preliminary, secondary and specialized health care in a just and comfortable manner.
Health Minister Abdul Majeed Shoboukshi was quoted as saying that under the regulations, employers would be required to pay 85 percent of the cost of medical insurance for their employees, while the rest would be covered by the employees themselves.
Officials say under the new system, authorities would require sponsors of expatriates to provide health insurance cards to their workers before residents permits are issued. They said medical insurance would eventually be made mandatory for Saudi citizens.
They say the health insurance scheme aims to ease the financial burden on the government, which offers free medical services to some 22 million people, including about six million foreigners.
The health scheme is the latest in a series of economic reforms introduced by the government to reduce reliance on oil and to give the private sector a bigger role in the economy. The Kingdom has begun moves to privatize its telecommunications and power sectors and is mulling plans to privatize its airline.
Potential foreign investors say provisions of the insurance scheme would play a part in their investment decisions as an additional cost factor.
Insurance industry experts are expecting thriving business in the Gulf region where several governments are beginning to turn to the private sector as health services strain their budgets.
