New health insurance scheme goes into effect, says CCHI

The Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) will start implementing the new unified health insurance scheme and its annexes on the new or renewed policies as of July 1, CCHI’s secretary-general Muhammad Al-Husain said in a statement Saturday.

As of today previous policies will not be accepted, unless valid, and CCHI has notified all health insurance firms of the new updates, he said.

New benefits were added to the policy, covering the following:

- Dental and gum treatment including a one-time teeth cleaning procedure per policy duration.

- Infancy respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination.

- Early screening for hearing impairment.

- Critical congenital heart defects for all infants.

- Gastric sleeve surgeries for body mass indexes (BMIs) above 45.

- Acute and non-acute psychological conditions.

- Medical conditions that need isolation in hospitals (as determined by the health ministry).

- Treatment of psoriasis.

- Infant formula, if medically needed up to the age of 24 months, according to regulations.

The health insurance coverage reaches SAR 500,000, including all expenses of medical examination, diagnosis, treatment, medicines and surgery, as specified in the new document, Al Husain said.

In the past, CCHI’s General Secretariat has regularly updated and developed the insurance regulations and the unified scheme— at least every three years— in order to upgrade the health insurance services for the insured and related parties, he said.

CCHI and partners have thoroughly studied the suggestions and remarks received from all related parties and specialists on the previous policy before implementing the current updates and enhancements, he added.

The cooperative health insurance system, the executive regulations and the new unified policy are available on CCHI’s website.