By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter
The National Health Insurance Company (NHIC) has postponed the implementation of comprehensive compulsory medical insurance coverage for all expatriates, which was supposed to be in place this year.
“The stage (for the implementation of Seha to expatriates as well) has been slightly postponed,” NHIC acting CEO Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali told the media yesterday on the sidelines of a function to launch “Be Our Eyes” campaign, through which it sought the support of general public in reporting suspected frauds and abuse in the health insurance.
Asked about the reason for the postponement of Seha to expatriates, the senior official said NHIC preferred to wait as there was a need for further studies and hoped that it could  be implemented before the end of 2016.
NHIC  is a government-owned entity that manages and operates Seha, the national health insurance scheme in Qatar. The scheme provides mandatory health insurance coverage through a network of public and private providers and forms a key component in the realisation of the National Health Strategy and the overall Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Health Insurance Law Number 7 of 2013 was approved to commence the implementation of compulsory health insurance in a phased manner, initially targeting Qatari nationals.
The beneficiaries of the health insurance scheme will be able to obtain services from both public and private healthcare providers. The final stage will cover the blue-collar expatriate workers for all services. They will have access to the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) hospitals, expanded private providers as well as three new single male labourers’ hospitals being built.
Article 18 of the Health Insurance Law prohibits employers and sponsors from recovering any health insurance premiums from employees (and their families) or sponsored persons, respectively.
The premiums for Qatari nationals, non-Qatari women married to Qatari men and the children of Qatari women married to non-Qataris will be paid by the government, while the premiums of other residents, their spouses, and first three children must be paid by their employer.
Some details of the mandatory Seha cover are yet to be finalised and this may be holding back employers from making plan design changes in readiness for the new regulations, according to Mercer, a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments.
However, as things stand, it will be likely that most employers, certainly the majority of multinationals will have to make changes to their current arrangements in order to be compliant, it had said.
The Gulf Co-operation Council healthcare market is projected to grow annually at 12% to nearly $70bn by 2018 from an estimated almost $40bn in 2013, according to estimates.