How many people in Saudi Arabia have insurance

Question: 
Hi
Dear sirs,

could you inform me the statistics of How many people have insurance in Saudi Arabia?

Thanks & best regards

Answer: 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia offers a comprehensive
National Health Service type scheme for all Saudi citizens and expatriates working
in the country’s public sector. Expatriates or Saudi Citizens working in the
private sector are required to have some form of employer provided health
insurance. This is a recent development in the regulation of the Kingdom’s
healthcare system, as it was previously only foreign private sector workers who
were mandated to obtain private health insurance.

In Saudi Arabia
public funding accounts for 80% of all healthcare spending. In an effort to
provide higher quality services and reduce overall spending (which accounts for
approximately 11% of the overall government budget), the Ministry of Health has
been instituting wide scale reforms in an attempt to modernize the healthcare
industry and increase private sector involvement with healthcare initiatives.

The effort
to provide private sector workers with health insurance has been implemented in
phases over the last several years. The initiative started by only requiring foreign
public sector workers and much larger private sector companies to obtain
coverage. As of 26/07/09, however, any individual
working in the Kingdom’s private sector, and their dependants, are required to
have a comprehensive health insurance plan.

The total
Saudi labor force was estimated to include about 8.01 million people as of
2008. The total number of people currently working in the Saudi private sector
is believed to be 6.84 million; of this number 2.2 million are foreign nationals,
while 4.6 million are Saudi citizens. Therefore, under the current guidelines,
a conservative estimate would mean that 6.84 million people in the country have
some form of private health insurance. An estimated 5.5 million expatriates
currently reside in the country, although not all of them work in private
industries.

If you are
relocating to Saudi Arabia
and are planning to work outside of the public sector, then under Saudi law you
are required to have comprehensive health insurance. Pacific Prime can help you
to find the policy best suited to meet your long term healthcare objectives. By
offering a number of coverage options which will usually include benefits for
maternity treatment, dental coverage, in-patient and out-patient care,
specialist consultations, and emergency evacuation we are able to give you the
peace of mind that you deserve while overseas.

The
expatriate health insurance plans that we offer are typically guaranteed
renewable for life, globally portable, and will allow you the freedom of choice
to receive treatment from any doctor or hospital in the world. For more
information about Pacific Prime, international health insurance for Saudi Arabia,
or to receive a free quote, please contact us today.