Kuwait: Insurers to gain from changes to public medical services
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Dec 2015
Insurance companies stand to benefit if the Kuwaiti government adopts plans to stop access to public health services for expatriates – though they pay KWD50 (US$165) per year for health insurance – in a bid to lessen the strain on the government budget.
The scrapping of access to public health services would leave foreigners no option but to pay for private health insurance.
A report by the Supreme Council for Planning and Development contains suggestions that include doing away with “harmful subsidies”, according to the Kuwait Times. The health insurance subsidy given to expatriates is one example of subsidies that hurt the national budget, the Council said.
The report referred to a case in the 1990s when the Kuwaiti government scrapped free education for expatriates, thus banning foreigners from studying at public schools and forcing them to enrol in private schools. The action led to a boom in the private sector and a skyrocketing of private school tuition fees. The same could happen in private healthcare and medical insurance if the government’s proposals are adopted.
The Council said the benefits of lifting the expatriates’ health insurance subsidy include narrowing the gap between foreign and national manpower, creating a competitive and strong insurance market as well as a private health service industry which could attracts medical tourists regionally, contributing towards reducing pressure on public health services, and generating new job opportunities.
Expatriate health insurance are expected to rise to KWD150 per person from the KWD50 per person per year.
Last year, Kuwait established a shareholding company through public-private partnership (PPP) to service expatriate health needs. The company intends to build three 700-bed hospitals that provide integrated medical services to foreigners in Kuwait, as well as offer health insurance.
KWD1 = US$3.29