Fadl Albuainain: medical insurance in Saudi Arabia needs to highly efficient private companies and hospitals

Riyadh has been seeking ,several years ago, to provide comprehensive compulsory health insurance for citizens and government-funded system which would allow citizens to receive treatment  in the private sector hospitals, at a time when health services Council called two years ago to postpone the application for 5 years, with the possibility of more delay if the necessary infrastructure for the application isn't completed, with the knowledge that there has not been a time frame for the application of the project.

 

Fadl Al-buainain, an economist interested in the insurance industry, said in a telephone interview with «Middle East», that the health insurance industry specifically needs  high capital companies to accommodate the growing demand in the insurance market in the future, in addition to the ability to achieve the diversity of insurance products especially that there is an anticipated governmental trend to apply medical insurance for citizens, which require a complete infrastructure for the insurance sector, especially large companies capable of providing insurance services to beneficiaries.

Albuainain said: The state has already put forward the subject of medical insurance to all citizens, noting that the real obstacle to the implementation of this decision, is the deterioration and the weakness of the insurance sector departments in general, which did not support the country in the application of medical insurance to citizens on the ground.

Albuainain attributed these shifts in insurance companies to the inability of its financial solvency to accept any emergency on the insurance sector, in addition to new insurance services or loss, and the lack of vision for the future to accommodate the growing demands on the insurance sector in Saudi Arabia.

He noted that the launch of medical insurance for citizens needs to two pillars, the first is a private hospitals should be able to provide health services to the citizens efficiently, and the second is to have insurance companies on a high level of solvency and ability to create insurance products and to deal efficiently with the size of demand for compulsory medical insurance for citizens, noting that without these two pillars we cannot ensure the success of any project provides insurance service, and that any further delay in this project can be more associated with those points.

He added: «We have a problem in strategies related to national projects; therefore developed countries rely on the development of a comprehensive national strategy then being approved».

Albuanin said that Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabiah  former health minister, had a point of view of medical insurance, that he does not want to apply  what was applied in a single country, and sought through studies to achieve a cooperative insurance consistent with the needs of the country and depends on the insurance standards applicable in more than one country, and this was closer to the insurance applied in Canada, and this was the earlier point of view, this type of insurance aims to maintain the efficiency of health services and insurance justice, and not cause a decline in health services in the future.

He added: «From my point of view, I hope that the government has independent executive arm, so that if you have a project for compulsory health insurance, a team linked directly to the Prime Minister direct can handle the work of it, and entrusted with the completion of the project in accordance with the established scientific methods, thus ensuring completion of the project efficient, high quality and independence, and in a specified time abide by the working group, and the government can intervene in the medical insurance process for Saudis gradually, by choosing some sectors and begin to apply insurance on them as the initial phase, such as education, for example, and then followed by another sector, as a kind of gradual in providing the service ».

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