ID :
410866
Wed, 06/29/2016 - 14:31
Auther :

Government will pay citizens' health insurance subscriptions

Manama, June 29 (BNA): Supreme Health Council (SCH)'s President, Lt-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, said the Council will supervise over the application of National Health Insurance Scheme to improve and maintain high quality sustainable health services for all citizens. In a formal statement, Lt-Gen, Dr. Shaikh Mohammed dismissed the false reports recently circulating in some newspapers and social media which alleged that citizens would be compelled to pay a monthly subscription to obtain health services. The is not true and far from the truth, he said, assuring the citizens that they do not need to pay any monthly subscription as the government will pay the monthly subscriptions on behalf of them into the Health Insurance Fund. He said the Health Insurance Scheme will provide quality services to the citizens and will pay the cost of service to the service provider. Patients will have the freedom of choice. Currently, the government pays the budget to the Ministry of Health and public hospitals to provide citizens with free medical care. The cost per Bahraini citizen is around BD 550 per year. The government will transfer the same amount from the overall budget to the Health Insurance Fund which in turn will pay to health service provides, including hospitals and health centres (HCs) in consideration of the services allowing the citizens the freedom to receive the service. He also said the Health Insurance scheme aims to economies and control the expenditures. It will also bosot the quality and competition among the hospitals and encourage them to attract the citizens for medication by offering them the advantage of competitive services. The Health Insurance scheme is based on accurate, detailed health-related data, including the unified electronic medical file which will be accessible for all hospitals and HCs to enable them to serve the citizen wherever the citizen chooses to get medication. The system will allow auditing and monitoring the health files to determine all health-related indicators. Shaikh Mohammed said the Supreme Council of Health and the Health Ministry decide the policy to ensure that all citizens receive high quality health services. An annual report will be issued gauging patients' satisfaction with the health services to determine any snags or challenges and to promptly find suitable solutions in order for the scheme to win the satisfaction of patients, he said. And regarding the duration required to apply the Health Insurance Law, he said, we are in the stage of finalizing the status of the Health Insurance Law which will be submitted to the Government. Then, the government will present it to the legislative authority. Hopefully, the health insurance scheme will be fully operational within three years following its actual application.

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