Saudi Arabia is moving a step closer to universal health insurance, according to this Arab News report. Expanding the net of coverage to include employees of small companies, this new law will include an additional three million workers. Steps are underway to expand the program yet again, this time to include domestic workers.

The article notes conflict among some insurance companies about whether this current expansion is ‘do-able’. It also points out that some insurance companies may fall to the wayside due to inefficiency.

Small firms bound under new law to give health coverage to employees

RIYADH: Companies employing less than 50 people will now fall under the Kingdom’s mandatory health insurance coverage scheme.

But insurance analysts have expressed concern over the lack of adequate coordination between the implementing authorities and the insurance companies. The mandatory health insurance scheme for approximately three million workers of small and medium-sized companies in the Kingdom is making progress, but without sufficient coordination, they say.

“Was any study conducted on the financial situation of small establishments in the Kingdom before the project’s implementation, and will it adversely affect the future of companies?” insurance analyst Abdallah Saati was quoted as saying in a report published in an Arabic daily on Sunday.
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