Fees will remain 20% less than in private sector: Dr Harby

KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Jamal Al-Harby said that the ministry of health has decided to increase fees on health services for expats which will become effective mid-February. However, he added that the fees of the services and medical examination provided by the MoH will be 20% less than that prevailed in the private sector.

Al-Harby said that there was a meeting of the council of the undersecretaries last week and a recommendation was made based on the ministry's study to review service fees for expats. He said that the study recommended to increase fees for X-ray and medical laboratories services. However, they will be 20% less than that in the private sector. Other advanced medical examinations and nuclear tests that are not currently available in the private sector will be charged 50% of the cost, he added.

Al-Harby said fees for medical services were not reviewed for a long time and the costs are now a burden on the state's general budget due to high prices of medical equipment as well as the rising prices of medicines. This has prompted the ministry to re-evaluate the existing fee structure in the MoH in providing services to non-Kuwaitis.

After issuing the decision to raise the fees, the impact of the decision on limited income expat labor will be studied.  Subsequently, their status in regards to these increases will be decided by finding a suitable mechanism for them. Al-Harby said the bedoons will not be included in the purview of the increase and will only apply to expats who represent 2/3 of the total population of the country. -Al-Rai