JEDDAH, 5 June 2006 — The decision to link iqama renewal with obtaining health insurance will be implemented next month.
According to sources, the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) is directing companies to complete the process of providing their employees with the cooperative health insurance policy and providing the health insurance companies with the necessary information, including iqama numbers of beneficiaries and their dependents.
“We were told that after a month it will be mandatory to implement the decision,” said a source at an insurance company.
Arab News obtained a copy of the circular being sent by the CCHI to the companies requesting them to complete the necessary measures for implementing the royal decree dated 23/8/1426, stating: “A business owner has to provide for his employees’ health, preventive and treatment care in accordance with the levels decided by the minister (of labor), taking into consideration the cooperative health insurance system.”
The ministry approved the executive bylaws of the cooperative health insurance which include an item which states, “it is not allowed to offer an iqama or renew it until after obtaining the cooperative health insurance policy which has to cover the duration of the iqama,” according to the circular.
Plans for linking iqama issuance with insurance were announced late last year and the date was set for June 2006.
A source at one company told Arab News it received the circular on Saturday and that the management had begun looking into the best offers and prices by various insurance companies.
The minister of health, Dr. Hamad Al-Manie, said last month that the ministry was working on a project with the General Directorate of Passports to link iqamas electronically with health insurance which would be implemented for all expatriates within a month, according to SPA.
He made a similar announcement in August 2005 saying that coordination was under way with the General Directorate of Passports over the proposal.
At a press conference last month, the secretary-general of CCHI, Abdullah Al-Sharif, said that the council would begin in two months a review of the progress made so far in providing mandatory health insurance cover for expatriates in order to identify shortcomings and take corrective measures.
Among the corrective measures is the provision of health insurance prior to the issuance of an iqama as laid down in Article 144 of the new Labor Law.
He said that 50 percent of the expatriate population in the Kingdom has yet to be covered by the health insurance scheme which was made mandatory starting January 2006.
