The file of non-graduate expatriates who are 60 years and above is still wandering in no man’s land as no light is seen at the end of the tunnel which can bring a smile back of the faces of this category of people who have been waking up every morning hoping for a happy ending to the issue for the past nearly 15 months.
Informed sources revealed to Al-Rai, despite the big breakthrough which came in the form of a decision of the Board of Directors of the Public Authority for Manpower to allow the renewal of work permits for this category of expats for 250 dinars fee (which has been published in the official gazette) but the issue of health insurance document still hovers over the heads of the concerned officials.
The attempt to implement the decision has caused a great deal of confusion among the PAM officials and insurance companies, due to the absence of details related to the required document on the one hand, and the objection of the limit imposed on the insurance companies listed on the stock exchange to issue policies on the other hand.
The sources stated that “companies consider limiting the policies to the listed companies, will strengthening monopoly in the insurance sector, which contravenes the directives of the Competition Protection Law, as this will lead to the exclusion of about 30 insurance companies operating in the Kuwaiti market from the competition and limiting the issuance of the document to only 8 listed companies.”
The sources explained “there is another problem in the lack of clarity in the details of the required private insurance policy, the size of its coverage and its validity period, and whether any expatriate holding a private insurance policy has the right to renew his work permit, even if its coverage is low and its expiry date is approaching.”
The sources pointed out that these points were the subject of discussion during a meeting of the Federation of Insurance Companies, and they were transferred to PAM, indicating the two parties will hold continuous meetings to discuss all technical issues, which must be clarified and officially issued to ensure the smooth issuance of insurance policies.
