The Cooperative Health Insurance Council has made it mandatory for medical insurance companies to cover the cost of basic immunization vaccines for children until they reach school-going age.

Under the new directives of the council, details of which were published by Al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday, insurance companies will also have to bear the expenses of bystanders of children below 12 years admitted to hospitals.

Insurance companies can claim reimbursements from the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) for payments they had made for treating vocational hazard cases usually covered by GOSI.

The insurance companies are also obliged to cover quarantine cases, the newspaper said.

The council reiterated the provision in the insurance law that gives the beneficiary the right to claim reimbursements for any services covered by the policy but not given by the designated service provider.

According to the council, insurance companies should cover the cost of transportation of patients, including expecting mothers, to the nearest medical center in case of emergencies. Patients picked up by emergency services or Red Crescent ambulances are only entitled to refunds of amounts they actually paid.

Earlier this week, the council made it mandatory for all business owners to cover their workers with medical insurance from the date of their arrival and hand them insurance cards within 10 days of their arrival in the Kingdom.

According to the council’s new regulations, the insurance coverage becomes invalid only in case of the beneficiary’s death, cancellation or expiration of his insurance documents or if he leaves the Kingdom on an exit-only visa.

Married workers’ medical insurance should cover pregnancy and child birth. Article 7 of the Cooperative Health Insurance System also requires owners of private hospitals to provide medical insure to their foreign workers.