Middle East Healthcare News » health insurance

Ministry of Health in Jordan Aims to Increase its Annual Budget

ICTFH — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:39:13 +0000

A senior government official announced on Monday that around 50% of the Ministry of Health’s annual budget of JD515 million is spent on the treatment of beneficiaries in other health facilities. Minister of Health Abdul Latif Wreikat spoke during a media forum organized by the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists saying the cost of referring patients to hospitals other than those affiliated with the public health sector amounts to JD256 million annually. He said “Every year, the ministry pays an average of JD100 million to the King Hussein Cancer Centre, JD48 million to the Royal Medical Services, JD48 million to the University of Jordan Hospital, JD52 million to King Abdullah I Hospital and JD8 million to private sector facilities”.

Wreikat mentioned “Patients who cannot be treated in one of the ministry’s hospitals, or if beds are unavailable, are referred to another facility affiliated with our partners” adding that 87% of the treatment cost for each Jordanian and 65% of non-Jordanians is covered by the government. The minister said “Currently, around 2.5 million Jordanians are covered by public health insurance, constituting 41.8% of the total number of citizens with medical insurance”. Because population growth is one of the challenges facing the health sector the ministry will provide health insurance to another 139,000 Jordanians next year, at a cost of JD19, 230 million.

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Health Insurance Complaints are decreasing during 2011 in Abu Dhabi

ICTFH — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:23:21 +0000

In order to have their health insurance schemes valid at all times, Abu Dhabi citizens submitted complaints to the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD). During a conference held yesterday, HAAD asked employers and sponsors to commit with the regulations of the health insurance law for the emirate. It was announced that the number of health insurance complaints recorded in 2011 decreased comparing to the last year.

Dr. Jamal Mohammad Al Kaabi, head of customer service and corporate communications at the HAAD said “The insurance scheme aimed to provide all residents with the best healthcare options. After looking into past violations of the law, HAAD has taken into account all necessary actions to provide the best possible healthcare access for all. We are also working to reduce the number of violations while also allowing for exemptions that will make healthcare more accessible”.

Due to the law, health insurance must be offered by employers and sponsors to all employees, their spouses and three children aged 18 years or lower. Employers’ trade licenses will not be renewed without these provisions. In case of not providing the insurance to one person; the responsible will pay Dh300 for every month and will pay the double if there are more than one person. Al Kaabi added “These penalties are aimed at ensuring that employers and sponsors provide insurance for all, and not to collect fees for violations”.

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Plan to Expand the Rate of Covered Citizens by Health Insurance in Jordan

ICTFH — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:42:59 +0000

The Department of Statistics (DoS) in Jordan announced that around 69.6% of Jordanians are covered by health insurance. Citizens in villages have the higher percentage of 83.5% than those in cities who represent only 66.7%, according to the study. Also the highest percentage of coverage was the southern region, followed by the northern region and the central region. All children under the age of five are covered by health insurance but most of Jordanians (55%) are covered by public health insurance.

Azmi Hadidi, director of the ministry’s health insurance directorate explained that the results of the DoS study do not match Ministry of Health figures as the study did not include those who are covered by insurance provided by UNRWA and the Royal Medical Services. The ministry’s figures showed that around 87% of Jordanians are currently covered by health insurance and the rest of them will be covered within 2012.

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Saudi Health Premium Section Grows Quickly

ICTFH — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:37:26 +0000

Saudi Arabia’s premium section is set for converts in 2011 with the application of a law organizing health premium for all private section employees. One aspect of the rapid pace of convert in the section is due to designing a large and deep existence for insurers in the Kingdom, Oxford Business Group (OBG) mentioned as reported by Global Arab Network.

The Council of Cooperative Health premium reported in its research that the application of medical premium for more and more Saudis has the potential to reshape the market for healthcare in the Kingdom.

Dr. Abdullah Al Sharif, secretary-general of the CCHI, mentioned that the Ministry of Health is receiving a lot of requests in order to construct hospitals from societies across the country and more interest in increased utilization of existing facilities. Private institutions are trying to establish relationships with government hospitals.

“The very promising health insurance sector represents one of the most important factors affecting the method and cost of health care services presented for Saudis working in the private sector and expats.”

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Daman’s health insurance members exceed 2 Million.

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:04:13 +0000

The National Health Insurance (NHI) Company “Daman”, a major health insurance company in the UAE, announced that the number of its members has increased to reach 2. 01 million since the beginning of its operations back in May 2005. Daman is well known as a leading health insurance organization. Various awards have been given to Daman from several high –leveled organizations. The latest awards granted to Daman were Corporate Social Responsibility and Best Medical Insurer awards in 2010.

As a result to its plans, Daman managed to include 1.5 million members in its basic plans in Abu Dhabi; 540,000 members of UAE National Thiqa and other 320,000 members in Daman’s enhanced plans. These numbers represent 90% of the total Abu Dhabi’s residents and 25% of the entire population of the UAE. Daman’s CEO, Dr. Michael Bitzer, said “For such a young company, we are proud to have reached this significant milestone in such a short period of time. The fact that we have grown so much since our inception validates our commitment to our members. We are also continuously developing new ways to enhance our clients’ experiences, and we remain confident of our future growth.” It is worth mentioning that Daman was chosen to operate and manage the health insurance scheme for UAE national citizens, Thiqa, in May 2008, since then more than 540,000 members have been involved in the project. Thiqa’s Director, Ahmed Al Neyadi, commented “Our commitment to ensuring quality healthcare services and coverage in the UAE has allowed us to provide Thiqa members with the ultimate services available. We are also striving to further enhance our offerings by continuously reviewing the services we provide.”

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Jordan puts its expertise at the service of Yemen

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:31:28 +0000

Minister of Health Nayef Al Fayez said Jordan puts its expertise in health insurance, medical engineering and blood banks at the services of Yemen.

At a meeting with his Yemeni counterpart Abdul Karim Rase’, Al Fayez said health cooperation increased tangibly in the last few years, especially in training Yemeni health staff and receiving patients for treatment in the Kingdom.

The visiting Yemeni official said his visit aims to bolster cooperation and coordination in health issues.

He noted Jordan’s advanced experiment in the field of health insurance, expressing his country’s keenness to benefit from Jordan’s expertise.

More than 50,000 Yemeni patients visit Jordan for treatment every year, the minister said, expecting the number to increase in the coming few years.

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Jordan Puts its Health Insurance Expertise at The Service of Yemen

ICTFH — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:18:27 +0000

Nayef Al Fayez, Minister of Health, said Jordan puts its expertise in health insurance, medical engineering and blood banks at the services of Yemen.

Al Fayez said health cooperation increased tangibly in the last few years, especially in training Yemeni health staff and receiving patients for treatment in the Kingdom.

The Yemeni official said his visit aims to bolster cooperation and coordination in health issues.

He noted Jordan’s advanced experiment in the field of health insurance, expressing his country’s keenness to benefit from Jordan’s expertise.

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International Liver Conference Highlights The Latest Treatment of Liver Diseases

ICTFH — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:47:41 +0000

More than 150 liver disease experts participated in the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver’s (APASL) 20th Annual Conference in Beijing, China.

The conference spotlighted latest research and treatment in the field of liver diseases, with a special emphasis on hepatitis C, the disease recognized as Egypt’s top health concern. With over 12% of the population infected, Egypt has the highest prevalence worldwide.

Dr. Gamal Shiha, President of the Association of Liver Patients Care and the first Arab physician appointed on board of APASL, shared the results of his latest study. The study focused on evaluating the efficacy of local interferon (Reiferon), the hepatitis C treatment recently administered by the National Health Insurance (NHI).

More than 100 hepatitis C patients treated by local interferon, for a period of 48 weeks participated in the observational study. Results demonstrated that the cure rate achieved by Reiferon does not exceed 25%, substantially less than half the 63 % achieved by global therapies. Moreover, relapse rates stood at 43%, four times the 10% recorded for global therapies. Dr. Shiha urged the Ministry of Health to undertake more extensive studies.

Peter French, Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL), emphasized that only two globally approved hepatitis C treatments – Pegasys, manufactured by Roche and Peg-Intron manufactured by Schering Plough contain an active component called polyethylene glycol (PEG). This allows for the slower absorption of interferon thereby extending the duration of its efficacy so it can actively fight the virus for a full week between injections.

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Health Ministry to Launch Free Health Insurance Trial on Students

ICTFH — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:33:43 +0000

The public health services sector is set to try free health insurance for all students, announced to Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh.

The minister said that the government would soon launch an ambitious plan to provide medical coverage for the entirety of the country’s students, in both public and private schools.

“At the beginning of the next school year, we’ll begin covering all public and private students, or around 400,000 students, in a pilot project for one year,” Khalifeh said at an event in Baalbek. “The government will either reject or accept this project, according to the numbers [of people served] and the productivity involved,” he said.

Khalifeh said Lebanon’s public hospital sector had grown from 20 to 22 facilities, which serve an estimated 160,000 people and are responsible for 3,000-4,000 jobs.

Donations and state funding would pay for the costs of the new program, “without any additional burden on families,” he added.

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HAAD Announces Health Insurance Cases of Fraud And Abuse

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:21:50 +0000

The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) announced that 38 health insurance violation cases, including suspected cases of fraud, forgery and abuse had been uncovered during inspection visits conducted by the Audit Section of the Health Insurance Regulation Department at HAAD.

HAAD issued fines ranging from AED 10,000 to AED 20,000 per violation to clinics, pharmacies, and medical professionals. Violations included claiming for medical services not provided to patients, replacement of prescription medications with non prescribed drugs, medical and non medical consumables, and non medical items. A further violation included employers and/or sponsors not providing continuous health insurance coverage to their sponsored employees who are working and/or residing in the Emirate.

In addition, HAAD referred certain violations to the Abu Dhabi misdemeanor court, which issued a decision to fine Dr. B.K. in M.D. clinic the amount of AED 10000 for receiving the value of treatment services that were not provided to the patient and forging documents. The court also sentenced two defendants for a period of two months imprisonment followed by deportation from the country for the issuance of forged health insurance cards. The court also ordered destruction of the forged cards as a result of their fraudulent acts against insurance companies in order to issue health insurance cards based on forged documents.

Company I.A.I. was fined AED 90,000 and company M.N were fined AED 70,000 by HAAD for underwriting health insurance policies which cover less medical services than is mandatory under the policies, non-compliance with health insurance policies, non-compliance with the policies terms and conditions, For non-adherence with health insurance basic product rates approved by HAAD, making changes to these health insurance policies, providing false and misleading information when applying for a license, and for non-compliance with the rules & principles in marketing health insurance policies.

HAAD also decided not to renew the license of a Third Party Administrator M. N. due to repetitive irregularities & violations such as working in areas beyond the granted license, the existence of conflict of interest between the company and providers of health care services and violation of undertaking made by the company when applied for license and practicing activities not licensed for in the field of Health Insurance Scheme.

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