Health cover to be mandatory for expat families in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has begun a process to make health insurance mandatory for the family members of all foreigners in the country, an official said Thursday.

The authorities will achieve this by connecting the insurance with the residency visa of all family members, Arab News quoted Health Insurance Council spokesperson Naif Al-Reefi as saying.

He said the council has coordinated e-linkage with the relevant authorities to strengthen the implementation mechanism which started this month.

The official said that those business owners who did not pay the cooperative health insurance fees on behalf of their workers would be obliged to pay all fees due in addition to paying a fine.

 

At 2.8 million, Indians account for the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia.