Bahrain: Health ministry confirms mandatory health insurance scheme to be launched this year for foreign residents
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | May 2023
Bahrain’s Ministry of Health has stated that the mandatory health insurance scheme will be implemented among foreigners this year and to citizens in 2024.
In its response to a parliamentary question submitted recently by House of Representatives member Munir Ibrahim Sorour, the Ministry said that the mandatory health insurance system will be implemented in stages, reported newspaper Al Ayam. At each stage, the authorities will assess the technical preparations and the completion of the necessary procedures and measures to ensure the ease and speed of accessing healthcare services.
The Ministry of Health also confirmed that the Health Insurance Fund will provide citizens with two packages: The mandatory health package and the optional health package. Under the health insurance law, the government pays the contributions on behalf of citizens to cover the benefits in the mandatory health package for citizens, which include access to preventive, curative and rehabilitative services and medical examinations.
With regard to the role of insurance companies in the health insurance project, the ministry stated that the insurance companies will provide the compulsory and optional health packages to expat residents, while the Health Insurance Fund will provide compulsory and optional health packages to citizens.
The ministry also said that the national health insurance programme includes the application of a number of health information systems, including a unified electronic medical file for each individual, which will enable the attending physician from any licensed health institution in the government and private sectors to view the medical file to provide the appropriate treatment. The systems will integrate the health, financial and administrative information of each patient.
In June 2022, the Supreme Council for Health chairman Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said that the first phase of the health insurance programme will be implemented in early 2023 for expatriates living in Bahrain. Consultations were at that time underway to determine the mandatory health package for foreign residents, he said. M