RIYADH: A study is under way to provide health insurance to Umrah pilgrims and domestic workers and certain articles of the health regulations needs to be amended, an official has said.
According to local media, the statement was made by Mohammed bin Suleiman Al-Hussein, secretary-general of the Council of Cooperative Security and Health, during a seminar on the Role of the Health Sector in Transparency, organized by Nazaha, on Monday.
He said the General Secretariat is currently studying the best models that have been proposed for applying insurance to new social sectors.
Al-Hussein said the council wants to change certain articles of the law to improve the capability and effectiveness of the health insurance market and allow the council to take legal action against companies failing to present health services in a proper way.
He said the council stopped four health insurance companies from issuing new policies after they were found violating many articles of the law. “The violations included foul play by selling insurance policies at lower rates, dealing with non-licensed offices to sell policies and not having the principle information of the owner. This also includes the lack of internal monitoring and no application forms.”
Al-Hussein said licenses from two health insurance companies were removed last year, and presently there are only 28 such companies in the Kingdom.
In a working paper, he said, the council seeks to organize the health insurance market according to the best standards, increase monitoring and supervision and heighten the level of practice and the available opportunities.
He called on the health insurance firms to develop their monitoring mechanism and seek electronic solution to help protect the interests of the insured person. The secretariat seeks to organize the health insurance market and develop a united list to protect the people covered by the policies.
Al Hussein said the council seeks to open communication channels, receive recommendations, answer queries and address complaints and seeks to set up a united communication center at 920001177 in Arabic and English.
The council’s website can be visited at www.cchi.gov.sa and e-mail can be sent to Info@cchi.gov.sa, while its Twitter account is @cchiksa.
Pilgrims, domestic workers likely to get health cover
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