Kuwaiti Minister of Health Dr Jamal Al-Harb has approved the renewal of a contract for six months with the private firm, Public Services Company, which issues medical insurance cards to expatriates.
The contract, which ended on 27 July 2017, is extended until 27 January 2018, reported Arab Times Online.
The move came as a surprise to some, because the minister had given the required six-month notice on 19 January 2017 about its decision not to renew the contract on expiry.
However, informed sources said that they had been expecting the ministry to renew the contract with the company for one more year, because of the bureaucracy involved in obtaining necessary approvals for a new service provider.
The contract was renewed with no changes made to the provisions, with the normal service fee remaining at KWD1 (US$3.31), and the fee for VIP express service at KWD4. VIP services constitute 75% of the total transactions of the company, which has been the sole service provider for around 15 years.
In January, a row erupted when the company claimed that the Health Ministry had demanded that it shut down a VIP office. The row, in turn, forced expatriate workers to face long queues at health insurance centres to obtain their medical insurance cards. The medical cover is required for expatriates to renew their residence visas in the country.
However, Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Affairs at Ministry of Health Mohammed Al-Azmi then had affirmed that the ministry did not order the suspension of any service nor the closure of any registration centre that served expatriates.
Mr Al-Azmi had then also indicated that the ministry might sign a new contract with the Public Services Company or with another company following the expiry of the current contract until a new public-private insurer starts operations.
The new insurer is to provide health cover for the three million expats in the country for them to shift from public health services to expats-only hospitals and clinics that are expected to be fully operational by 2020. Expatriates constitute 70% of Kuwait’s 4.2 million population. M
KWD1 = US$3.31