COMPULSORY medical insurance for expatriates will make Bahrainis more attractive to employers, a top official declared yesterday.<\/p>\n
The current cost of employing Bahrainis is considerably higher than that of employing expatriates, said Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) chief executive Ali Radhi.<\/p>\n
“Once the compulsory medical insurance for expats comes into force, it will increase the costs for employers,” he told the workshop.<\/p>\n
The foreign population in Bahrain has been growing at the rate of 11 per cent per year, said Mr Radhi.<\/p>\n
“Their number increased from 206,000 in 2001 to 430,000 in 2008,” he revealed.<\/p>\n
“The actual foreign workers increased during this period from 180,000 to 397,000.<\/p>\n
“They are insured with the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI), which gives them coverage against work injuries.<\/p>\n
“A survey carried out in 2006 and 2007 revealed that 3.1pc of non-Bahrainis left work in 2005 due to health reasons.”<\/p>\n
Mr Radhi said the survey also revealed that 37pc of the total workforce in Bahrain was covered by medical insurance.<\/p>\n
“For another 34pc, the employers reimburse the cost of medical treatment,” he noted.<\/p>\n
Coverage<\/p>\n
“This means, about 71pc of the workforce are covered by some kind of medical insurance.”<\/p>\n
However, the majority of the workers belonging to the labour class have no medical insurance coverage.<\/p>\n
“According to the new LMRA system for issuing work visas, the employees are advised to undergo health check-ups at a medical centre back home approved by Bahrain’s Health Ministry before they travel to Bahrain to take up employment,” said Mr Radhi.<\/p>\n
“We also make it mandatory for those expat employees who are above 60 years to have proper medical insurance coverage, if their employers still require their services.”<\/p>\n
Once the compulsory medical insurance for expatriates is implemented, the costs for employing them will further go up, making Bahraini employees more attractive to the employers, said Mr Radhi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMPULSORY medical insurance for expatriates will make Bahrainis more attractive to employers, a top official declared yesterday. The current cost of employing Bahrainis is considerably higher than that of employing expatriates, said Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) chief executive Ali … Continue reading