Kuwait:New compulsory health insurance policy to cost US$430 a year
The price of the new mandatory health insurance policy for expatriates working in the private sector in Kuwait will be KWD130 ($430) a year per person when the scheme commences, according to Mr Thamer Arab, CEO of Health Assurance Hospitals Company (Dhaman) which is providing the coverage.
This premium will increase by KWD20 every two years until it reaches the maximum limit of KWD190, reports the news daily, Al-Anba.
At present, private-sector personnel are covered by mandatory health insurance provided by the Ministry of Health for KWD50 a year. Additional fees are charged for radiology services, laboratory and other services in government centres and hospitals.
The new Dhaman insurance policy will cover all aspects of healthcare, including medical consultation, diagnosis, treatment and cost of medicine. The new service will apply to all expatriates in Kuwait including their dependents who have resident status.
The KWD130 premium per person also applies to expatriates who are aged at least 60 (and thus classified as high risk) and expatriates with chronic diseases. Anyone who has private health insurance is not exempt from the mandatory insurance with Dhaman.
Pricing of new mandatory health insurance plan
Mr Arab says that the pricing of the Dhaman health insurance policy is based on a set of extensive studies by the Ministry of Health and other government agencies. He points out that the average cost of healthcare borne by Kuwait per person annually is equivalent to KWD413. He adds that the government’s annual spending on healthcare totals KWD867m on the six public hospitals and affiliated centres.
He points out that Dhaman is not a health insurance company nor a group of healthcare institutions.
Instead, it represents an integrated system of health insurance based on the maintenance of health, which focuses on prevention and awareness. It covers primary and secondary care including many specialties such as family medicine, dentistry, pediatrics, surgery, emergency, obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and intensive care with pharmacy, radiology, diagnostic imaging and laboratories services.
He says that the company started in 2019 to provide its services at three healthcare centres that offer family medicine, dentistry and children’s services with laboratories and radiology. These are located in Hawally, Farwaniya and Dajeej. Other centres are being established. Mr Arab says that Dhaman is restoring the role of family medicine to the forefront of the healthcare sector in Kuwait, with a group of highly qualified family physicians.
At the same time, Dhaman hospitals are being built. The hospitals, if they open in 2022, will have dentistry, pediatrics, surgery, emergency, gynecology, obstetrics, internal medicine, orthopedics, physiotherapy and intensive care with pharmacy, diagnostic imaging and laboratories services, says Mr Arab.
Population
Kuwait’s total population reached roughly 4.63m at the end of June 2021, according to demographics and labour force statistics issued by the Public Authority for Civil Information. Of this total, the number of Kuwaitis in the country was 1.47m.
Source: Middle East Insurance Review
