An insurance expert expects further growth rate for the health insurance sector in Saudi Arabia after the full application of the single health insurance policy for the employer as per the resolution of the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) that came into effect on July 10 this year. Omar Al-Mahmood, Vice President of Medical Insurance and Takaful at Tawuniya, said implementing the Single Health Insurance Policy for the employer will greatly reduce fraudulent unreal insurance where some insurance companies had manipulated for beneficiaries. It also places restrictions on the issuance of individual policies where the system will allow for issuing only one insurance policy for the employer including his employees and their dependents. He added: "The new regulation will make it mandatory for the employers to insure all employees who work in their organization and their family members. This will contribute to expanding the mandatory health insurance to include the employees whom employers, especially at Small to Medium Entities (SMEs), were not keen to provide them with insurance." Al-Mahmood stressed that CCHI's resolution allows the issuance of one insurance policy under only one sponsor number, saying that this amendment may double the administrative load for customers and insurance companies, but it will lead to the accurate calculation of health insurance loss ratios and then determine the price based on the actual results, as well as generate proper technical procedures to manage them. Al Mahmoud appreciated the support provided by CCHI for implementing the Single Health Insurance Policy for employers by providing insurance companies with access for the employer's insurance data. This access will provide the insurance company with the total number of client's employees and their families and whether they have active insurance policies at any other insurance company. He also said the new regulation will request from the employer who currently has an insurance policy with several sponsor numbers to issue some of the insurance policies with one sponsor number for each. In line with this new regulation, Tawuniya has completed its readiness to implement the Single Health Insurance Policy for the employer. The company also launched a campaign to create awareness among its customers and prepare them for activating this regulation on the due dates recommended by CCHI to avoid the ceasing of their insurance policies. The CCHI has issued a resolution on April 13, 2016 to conduct a single health insurance policy for each employer and the application will be through 4 phases mechanism that started on July 10, 2016 and will end in April 10, 2017.
