Some health insurance companies are colluding with certain employers by issuing fake health policies for their workers. This allows these workers to stay and work in the Kingdom, and saves these businesspeople from paying healthcare costs, reported Al-Sharq newspaper on Sunday. This is illegal under legislation passed three years ago which requires all employers to provide their workers with mandatory health insurance coverage. According to statistics from the Cooperative Health Insurance Council, at the end of 2010 there were 6.5 million foreign workers covered by 26 companies authorized to sell health insurance policies. A total of 390,000 private companies are covered. Sulaiman Al-Sai'el, Director of the Health and Insurance Department at the Directorate of Health Affairs in the Eastern Province, said some health insurance firms are colluding with businesspeople in this illegal activity. These businesspeople are then able to renew the Iqamas and have exit and re-entry visas approved for their workers. Dr. Abdullah Bin Ibrahim, Secretary General of the Health Cooperative Council, said the law allows the workers to call the council on a toll-free number to report any employer who breaks the law. The council also cooperates with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to protect the rights of the insured employees. Raj Mansour Hussein, a resident in the Kingdom for more than 16 years, who works as a waiter in a café, said he was not covered when he had to have kidney stones removed. He said his sponsor refused to pay for the surgery and he had to use herbal medicine, which didn't help much. He had to spend his life savings to help treat the condition. Amjad Ali, who sponsors more than 60 workers, said many “greedy” business owners look for insurance companies which charge them little money regardless of the quality and standard of the service. This is at the expense of poor workers.
