BY MOBIN PANDIT
DOHA: Qatar yesterday put in force the much-awaited health insurance law which makes it compulsory for employers across all sectors to provide medical cover to their foreign workers and their families.
The law bars employers from making any deductions from the salaries of their workers for the instalments paid for medical insurance policies bought for them or their family members.
Visitors, whether on tourist or business visas, must also buy health insurance for the expected duration of their stay in the country before visas are issued to them.
Domestic workers are to be provided with medical insurance by their sponsors.
According to the law, no one could stay in the country without being covered by a health insurance scheme.
The government will provide free medical cover to citizens, non-Qatari women married to Qataris and the children of Qatari women married to non-Qataris.
No employer, whether in the private, public, mixed or domestic sector, is to be spared by the provisions of the law that became effective from yesterday and is to be published in the official gazette.
No foreign worker or any of his dependents will be issued residence permit (RP) unless their employers have bought them health insurance. The rule will apply to RP renewals as well.
The insurance system must cover, as per the law, medical services starting from the basics like preventive services such as vaccinations, treatment of ailments, rehabilitation in the cases where necessary, as well as regular medical check-ups.
Mechanisms and details such as what services are to be covered by the medical insurance scheme, and how the law and its various provisions are to be effectively implemented are to be specified by executive regulations to be issued by the Minister of Health.
The Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani issued the law (No 7 of 2013) regulating the health insurance system, reports Qatar News Agency (QNA).
The legislation puts the onus of implementing the insurance system and closely monitoring it on the Supreme Council of Health (SCH).
As the regulator, the SCH has been authorised to set up a shareholding company (akin to a nodal insurance agency) to make the insurance system work.
This company will have powers to ink deals with other firms if that becomes necessary to discharge its duties.
The SCH can form other companies as well if deemed necessary.
Employers across all sectors must provide details of their workers to the SCH to help it prepare an extensive database to ensure that everyone in the country, whether expatriates, including GCC citizens living and working or doing business here, and nationals are covered by the insurance scheme.
The SCH has also been asked to assess the financial contribution of the government support for the overall health insurance system, and separately for the mandatory insurance of low-income workers and tell the state every year how much it should chip in.
The SCH, according to the legislation, must work out a benchmark for the above contribution to be made by the state.
Employers have the freedom to buy additional medical covers for their workers and their families.
Article 15 of the law says all visitors to the country must have medical insurance before visas are issued to them.
Executive regulations to be issued by the Minister will specify the necessary details.
Article 16 suggests that the Minister will specify the amounts of instalments payable by the employers for the insurance of their workers.
Article 18 bars employers from making any kinds of deductions from the salaries of their workers for paying the instalments.
The legislation provides for stringent punishment, of jail terms up to a year and fines ranging up to QR100,000, or both, for those violating its provisions.
The Minister has also been authorised, as a punitive measure, to order closure of a healthcare facility for a month or cancel its license for flouting the provisions of the law. The law has 30 articles divided into six chapters.
