Obligatory health insurance for expats start at KD130

Kuwait’s Health Insurance Hospitals Company (Dhaman) has announced it will be introducing a new KD 130 (Dh1.592) compulsory health insurance for two million residents working in the private sector under Visa No. 18, in addition to their registered families, Al Qabas daily reported quoting informed sources.

The traditional health insurance will remain to cover the health service fees for government sector workers and domestic workers.

Obligatory health insurance for expatriates in Kuwait will start at the annual fee of KD130 and will increase by KD20 every two years to reach a maximum of KD190 per person in nine years, CEO of Dhaman, Thamer Arab has stated.

The new service will apply to all expatriates in Kuwait including dependents. An expatriate’s personal health insurance does not replace obligatory health insurance which will be necessary for renewing residency permit, he added.

The official explained the base pricing of the service was based on a slew of studies conducted by the Health Ministry and other governmental agencies in Kuwait.

“The average cost of health care that Kuwait bears per person reaches KD413 annually, according to the Health Ministry statistics,” he told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba.

“That said, the cost of KD130, which will increase by KD20 every two years, is a very reasonable cost in view of the current spending on health care totaling KD867 million annually on the six public hospitals and affiliated centres.”