Medical cover for expats, kin mandatory

April 5, 2014

Jeddah, Apr 5: All private businesses must provide medical insurance for their workers and families, including Saudis and expatriates, by next month, the Health Insurance Council has decided.

“The insurance coverage must be given to all workers irrespective of the salaries they receive,” the council stated. The decision would allow Saudis and expatriates access to advanced health services.

It does not apply to the children of Saudi women married to foreign men, or the foreign wives of Saudis. About two million Saudis currently get insurance coverage.

A senior insurance executive, who requested anonymity said that most companies now provide medical insurance for their workers and family members. “We are now waiting for the government to provide medical insurance for all Saudis. This will double the market, which is already worth SR25 billion,” he said.

He said the maximum medical insurance coverage amount for a person would be increased from SR250,000 to SR500,000 from July 1, 2014. “This will naturally increase premiums by 25 to 35 percent,” he said. Some companies have already increased premiums by 5 to 15 percent due to inflation and the rise in medicine prices.

The Health Insurance Council has delayed a proposal to introduce medical insurance for all Saudis by five years based on the findings of a recent study. The Health Ministry and the Shoura Council has studied the scheme extensively over the past few years.

Market experts have welcomed the decision to postpone the scheme because it would give the authorities more time to develop a world-class system.

“We have to adopt best practices, like in countries such as the US, to make the scheme more service-oriented than another money-making business,” Mohammed Abdussalam, a professor at King Abdulaziz University’s faculty of engineering said.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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