Health Assurance Hospitals Company (Dhaman) last week reaffirmed its commitment to collecting KD130 annually as the fee for the healthcare services it intends to offer expatriates in Kuwait. However, the company has expressed reservation about the viability of this annual premium in the future to cover all the anticipated services.
The company pointed out that the fee structure was established a decade ago, and that since then the Ministry of Health itself has raised the tariffs for expatriates on multiple occasions and expanded the list of medications not covered for non-Kuwaiti residents to maintain financial stability.
While the company has assured its dedication to implementing cost-saving measures, it is seriously considering an increase in the annual installment, which it deems as the “reasonable minimum” to ensure the economic feasibility of the project.
In response to a query from MP Khaled Al-Tamar, the company noted that the contract signed with the Ministry of Health stipulates that the annual health insurance policy fee of KD130 should be maintained for two years, before incrementally raising this fee to KD150, and then subsequently increasing the annual premium every two years to reach KD190 over a period of 10 years.
The company also has the right to raise the fees for visiting health centers if the inflation rate exceeds 6 percent without requiring approval from any official body. The document also obliges the Ministry of Health to provide specialized health services (tertiary care) to beneficiaries of the company’s services in exchange for a predetermined sum paid upfront by the company to the ministry, not exceeding 5 percent of the guarantee value for each beneficiary. This is carried out under a contract between the ministry and the company.
The company also holds the right to conduct medical examinations for expatriates in a subsequent arrangement with the Ministry. Regarding healthcare costs, the company has clarified that the fees paid by expatriates will encompass all medical expenses, including but not limited to test costs, X-rays, examinations, outpatient clinics, surgeries, medications, hospital admissions, and stays.
On the question of delay in implementing the contract so far, the company noted that it had made repeated requests to the Ministry of Health to move forward with document provisions. However, delays in issuing necessary licenses by the ministry for the opening of hospitals in Al-Ahmadi and Al-Jahra have led to a significant and unwarranted increase in pre-existing expenditures and staff recruitment.
The company reaffirmed that the ‘Dhaman’ system is prepared to offer hospitalization, emergency services, outpatient clinics, primary, and secondary healthcare as soon as the Ministry of Health completes the issuance of medical practice licenses for doctors.
It has been noted that the protracted process of obtaining these practice licenses necessitated the employment of hundreds of doctors for several months before they could actively contribute to the services, resulting in a negative impact on operational expenses and hindering the company’s ability to collect certain revenues to aid financial stability.