With a lot of changes happening in the State in terms of policy and regulations concerning expatriates and migrant workers, the government has recently floated its plan to coordinate between the Dhaman hospitals company and the health ministry to require KD 130 for each expat including those who work in the private sector and their children.
For many migrant workers in Kuwait, a 40% increase from a base insurance premium of approximately KD 70-75 per person will hurt the budget, especially since health insurance is mandatory among foreign nationals in Kuwait.
Gov’t Sets Insurance Premium for Expats at KD 130 Starting Next Year
As per the report shared by the Kuwait Times, the insurance will cover examinations, x-ray, and medicine, noting that the law does not indicate the party that will present health care for expatriates on visit visas after activating the Dhaman system.
As for dependents, the insurance coverage depends on the stand of the company the person who has family members on dependent visas works for.
Furthermore, a media campaign will be announced to raise awareness regarding the mechanism of health insurance and treatment. The update also noted that the current pricing at Dhaman clinics is similar to that in the private health sector.
Kuwait is home to hundreds and thousands of expatriates, and the number continues to grow every year despite the restrictions set by the government to even out the number of citizens to foreign nationals and to control the size of foreign communities in the country.
Despite the cases of ill-treated Filipina domestic helpers (or Filipinos in general) in the country, many Filipinos still believe that working in the country could provide a better future for their family in the Philippines.
However, it’s also worth noting that Kuwait was also named as one of the worst countries for expatriates by a global expat community portal.
Regardless of how outsiders view the situation in Kuwait, the new insurance premium proposed will definitely hurt the budget of migrant workers (especially contractual workers and foreign domestic helpers) who are earning less than KD 1,000 per month and are supporting their families back home.
If the new update will create the effect as expected, there will be fewer migrant workers who would be going to the country in the coming months, but this will not guarantee movement among those who are already working in the country.
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