JEDDAH, 15 June 2003 — Small and medium-scale companies are making a joint effort to pressure insurance firms into providing reasonable health insurance policies for their expatriate workers.
The move comes ahead of the implementation of the second phase of the mandatory health insurance for expatriates early next year. The second phase will cover companies with 100 to 500 workers.
The first phase, which started on Sept. 6 last year, covered companies employing more than 500 workers.
The last phase will cover all seven million expatriate workers in the country, including domestic staff.
According to the draft insurance law approved by the Cabinet, employers will pay nearly 90 percent of the premium, while employees will bear 10 percent or less. The law also authorizes the health minister to provide health services to pilgrims during the Haj season.
The scheme aims to ease the financial burden on the government, which offers free medical services to some 22 million people, including foreigners.
But companies with a small number of expatriate workers fear that they could be asked to subscribe to insurance policies they cannot afford.
The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry has proposed the establishment of a fund under its umbrella in order to make discounted rates from insurance companies possible.
Sultan ibn Muhammad ibn Saleh, chairman of the medical committee at the chamber, said the move was to serve small companies employing less than 50 workers.
Insurance companies have refused to give discounts to small companies though they do offer discounts to companies with 250 to 350 workers.
Market sources did not rule out the possibility of cheating if small companies did not receive reasonable discounts. They may provide fake insurance documents.
The sources pointed out that the small firms would be seeking an insurance policy just to fulfill official requirements for recruitment and iqamas.
Dr. Saleh Al-Omair, chairman of the national center for medical insurance, said the tremendous increase in work would reduce the quality of service. He also expected conflicts between various parties of health insurance.
Dr. Rashid Suleiman Al-Rashid, secretary-general of the Health Insurance Council, had warned that authorities would punish employers who delay providing health insurance to their workers. The punishment includes fine, payment of arrears and a temporary or permanent ban on recruitment.
In a recent interview, Omar Al-Bakheet, managing director of Aman Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance, said he expected the Saudi medical insurance market would grow to SR150 billion in the next five years.
A number of international insurance companies have entered into negotiations with Saudi partners to open their offices in the Kingdom. As many as 189 hospitals across the Kingdom are expected to take part in the cooperative health insurance program.
