Saudi Arabia has today introduced mandatory health insurance for domestic workers employed by households with more than four staff, according to the Saudi Council of Health Insurance (CHI).
The CHI says the move is part of the CHI and the Insurance Authority’s efforts to enable all beneficiaries to access comprehensive care and prevention and to empower stakeholders to achieve justice, transparency, excellence and performance.
The CHI said: “The decision aims to achieve comprehensive healthcare and ensure the sustainability of healthcare coverage while incentivising health insurance companies and healthcare providers to offer new products.”
“The domestic workers’ insurance document includes primary care, public health and emergency cases, hospitalisation coverage without participation in cost-sharing, emergency treatment in clinics with unlimited visits, vaccinations and examinations.”
3.7 million domestic workers
With close to 3.7 million domestic workers, the market could be a substantial one for many health insurance providers.
According to International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics, there were 3,663,939 domestic workers in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2020.
And the ILO notes that: “The vast majority of domestic workers in the region are migrants,” with many of them coming from the Philippines, East Africa and east Asia.
For example, the ILO said that the 2021 Labour Force Migration Survey in Ethiopia estimated approximately 280,000 Ethiopian migrants where in Saudi Arabia and that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 97,000 Kenyan workers employed in Saudi Arabia alone, many as domestic workers.
In fact, the number of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia is greater than the population of some other Gulf states – including Bahrain with about 1.7 million people and Qatar with about 2.9 million.
The ILO states: “The country with the highest share of domestic workers in the world is Saudi Arabia, where domestic work represents around 28 per cent of total employment.
“It is also the fourth-largest employer in terms of absolute numbers, with 3.7 million domestic workers.”
And with long work days, the need for health insurance among domestic workers could be high.
According to the ILO, domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are limited to working no more than 15 hours per day. This is the highest rate for countries in the region, which range from eight hours in Jordan to 12 hours in the UAE and Kuwait. Two countries have no specified limits on working hours – Bahrain and Oman.
Iman Al-Tariqi, official spokesperson for the Health Insurance Council, said: “Today, in partnership with the Insurance Authority, we have begun implementing mandatory health insurance for registered domestic workers with their employers if their number exceeds four individuals.
“The domestic workers’ insurance document includes primary care, public health and emergency cases, hospitalisation coverage without participation in cost-sharing, emergency treatment in clinics with unlimited visits, vaccinations and examinations.”