Bahrain, which spends over BD20 million a year on subsidising healthcare services or equal to 6 per cent of gross domestic product, is not ready yet to implement compulsory health insurance for everyone as perceived in the draft law pending before Parliament, a senior government official said.

Undersecretary at the Ministry of HealthMinistry of Health Dr Aziz Hamza, in his presentation on compulsory health insurance for expatriates at the opening of a two-day workshop, said the ministryministry was not the only body to implement the national project.

Organised by the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA), the event is being held in Bahrain under the patronage of Minister of Health Dr Faisal bin Yacoub Al Hamer who yesterday opened the workshop at Moevenpick Hotel.

The Minister assured all stakeholders on continuous ministryministry co-operation in making this national project a success and result oriented.

The ministryministry, he said, is only one of the components in a wider structure aimed at ensuring the delivery of healthcare services. "We at the ministryministry are service providers and not to be blamed for the delay in the implementation of the compulsory health-insurance law. The draft law is pending before Parliament for consideration."

Dr Hamza said the lack of adequate hospitals and the limited number of insurance companies to offer such services in the country were among the biggest challenges being faced by the sector. In a nutshell, he said, we are not ready to implement the facility at this stage.

Bahrain has seen a growth of private health facilities with 13 hospitals, and, in addition, a number of private industrial companies have their own in-house clinics providing primary care to their employees.

According to World Health Organisation estimates, Bahrain's national health expenditure per capita was BD250 at the end of 2005. The government finances around 71 per cent of healthcare expenditures in Bahrain. The remaining is paid either out-of-pocket (24 per cent) or private insurance (5 per cent).

The demographic change with the expatriate population rising to 500,000 is increasing pressure on the sector with a total population of Bahrain crossing the 1 million mark. "The utilisation of existing resources at optimum and introducing compulsory health insurance are seen as possible solutions."

Ashraf Bseisue, the BIA chairman, said: "We sit here today while the world around us undergoes and faces tremendous challenges and changes. As the impact of the global financial crisis unfolds, both governments and companies are forced to review their working models, plans and forecasts to accommodate the ramifications of what may be a turning point in recent history.

By Mahmood Rafique Business Correspondent

© Bahrain Tribune 2008

 

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