Group President & CEO of QIC, Khalifa Al Subaey (centre), addressing the press conference at the company’s headquarters in Doha yesterday, in the presence of Deputy CEO of QIC Group, Ali Al Fadala (left) and Ahmed M Yousef, Senior Adviser to Al Subaey. Salim Matramkot
DOHA: Local private insurance companies are urging the government to keep the mandatory health insurance for expatriates and visitors open for them.
Putting restrictions on private insurers from providing services will not only cause losses to national companies, but such “discriminatory policies” would also cause “adverse impact on the quality of medical services” and hamper growth of related sectors, a senior official of Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), the country’s largest insurer, told reporters yesterday.
According to the recently implemented health insurance policy, basic packages for citizens and expats will be provided only by the newly established National Health Insurance Company (NHIC), while private insurers will be allowed to provide insurance services not covered by NHIC, which has caused concerns among private insurers.
“Restricting national companies from the health insurance business will bring down the quality of services, hamper growth of insurance companies and deteriorate healthcare services. People will be left with limited options,” said Ahmed M Yousef, Senior Advisor to Group President and CEO of QIC, Khalifa Al Subaey.
Al Subaey and Deputy CEO of QIC Group, Ali Al Fadala, also attended the press conference.
Yousef, asked by Al Subaey to speak on his behalf on the sidelines of the meeting, cautioned that healthcare service providers, in absence of adequate competition, would prefer to appoint normal medical practitioners rather than consultants or specialists to maintain their profit margins at the cost of quality. “The best thing on the part of the government is just to leave the competition going on... NHIC can take care of citizens’ healthcare and leave expatriates and visitors for private companies. We should let everyone choose the company he/she wants to deal with,” he said.
QIC and other local players have expressed apprehension over the government’s current health insurance policies, and according to Yousef, they are preparing to approach authorities to register grievances. He also expressed concerns about the establishment of NHIC and said: “Since we already have more than five national insurance providers, in addition to the companies working under QFC Authority, do we need one more national company — that too with a workforce of over 500 employees?”
Aiming to tap opportunities in view of the mandatory health insurance policy, QIC has launched a subsidiary, Qatar Life and Medical (QLM), to provide health and life insurance services.
Asked if QIC will roll back the scheme under QLM if restrictions take effect, he said: “There will be no problem, we are having the other part — life insurance — which will continue to provide service. We are also bringing business from the UAE, Oman, Kuwait and other countries. We can also promote international health coverage.” The Peninsula
