National Health Insurance to Cover all Qataris From April 30

Doha, April 16 (QNA) - The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) shall cover all Qataris starting April 30, the National Health Insurance Company announced here Wednesday. Under a new corporate brand 'Seha' (health in Arabic), the scheme will provide Qatari men and women of all ages a comprehensive coverage of full range of health services through public and private insurance providers, officials said at a media conference today. The health cover includes in and out-patient services including preventative care, emergency treatment, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, long-term care, radiology, ophthalmology, laboratory testing, and prescriptions. Announcing details of Stage II of NHIS Seha, NHIC Acting CEO Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali said, "We are glad to announce Seha which covers all Qataris. This underscores Qatar's top position in healthcare in the Middle East." The NHIC is launching a campaign on social media to communicate better with scheme beneficiaries. "Scheme members can follow Seha and contact the company via facebook.com/SehaQatar and twitter.com/SehaQatar," he said. "We are working with the health care providers to ensure the expansion of services is as smooth as possible and to make the transition to Seha seamless for the scheme's beneficiaries. Our aim is to ensure the highest level of service when a member visits a Seha network provider," said Dr Faleh. Seha recently opened its first Customer Service Center for beneficiaries. It is located on the sixth floor of Amwal Tower in the West Bay. The scheme thus far covered Qatari females over 12 years for gynaecology, obstetrics and other women's health issues. Customer service centre staff will be on hand to assist members with any queries , including general information about the scheme and its roll-out, coverage , member rights and the network providers. A Qatar Statistic Authority had recently carried out a patient satisfaction survey, on behalf of the NHIC, showed that the health insurance scheme has already achieved high levels of acceptance and satisfaction among women users since July 2013. An overwhelming majority of 90% of respondents rated very highly the women's health benefits received under the scheme, while 84% said the scheme offered them greater freedom of choice when seeking healthcare. The Seha provider network includes a selection of quality public and private hospitals and clinics. Eight providers HMC Womens Hospital, Al Emadi Hospital, Al Ahli Hospital, Doha Clinic, Al Wakra Hospital, Al Khor Hospital, the Cuban Hospital and Al Hayat Medical Centre - are currently included within the network. The NHIS will announce updated network for Stage 2 prior to its launch. (END)