Jeddah: Keeping in view the surging number of foreign tourists in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has further expanded health insurance coverage up to SR 1 lakh.
According to the terms of the insurance policy, which was approved by the Saudi Council of Health Insurance, foreign tourists would be guaranteed access to health services in emergency cases only, local media reported. However, the definition of emergency is a grey area, and it is not easy to understand to most common men.
The health insurance policy specifies the type of services covered under the insurance and the reimbursable expenses, with a maximum coverage limit of SR 1,00,000. According to the terms of the policy, the reimbursable expenses are the actual expenses for essential medical services and treatment as well as for medicines and equipment with a condition that these must be prescribed by a licensed physician for an illness suffered by the insured.
The reimbursable expenses include emergency cases such as expenses for hospitalisation, medical checkups, diagnosis, treatment, and medications. It will also cover cases of premature babies that will be covered as part of the mother’s coverage and are subject to the mother’s maximum benefit.
The insurance also includes dental diseases, but is limited to emergency cases, including fillings, treatment of nerve damage, abscess treatment, and the required medications.
It also includes medical evacuation inside and outside the Kingdom, pregnancy and childbirth cases, injuries sustained from traffic accidents, emergency dialysis cases, and expenses for repatriation of dead bodies of the deceased visitor to his country of origin.
Health insurance for tourists can be obtained by visiting the unified Arabic platform for issuing visas, and filling out the tourist visa application form.
According to the procedure, health insurance will be valid from the date of issuance of the tourist visa, and the insurance policy guarantees tourists access to health services for emergency cases from a network of healthcare providers approved by the Council of Health Insurance in all regions of the kingdom.
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