Qatar: New Health Insurance Law Published

• Mandatory health insurance. All foreign visitors, residents and workers in Qatar will be required to hold health insurance for the entire duration of their stay unless they are exempt from the law (the government is expected to delineate the exemptions in further regulations).
• New sponsor obligations. Foreign nationals seeking residence and employment in Qatar will need to be enrolled in a minimum basic healthcare program by their sponsor (e.g., employer, recruiter, spouse or parent, depending on the circumstances). Any additional healthcare services are optional.
• New employer obligations. Employers will be required to provide workers with a health insurance card immediately after the insurance policy has been issued. They will also be required to provide basic health insurance to family members of workers they employ. It is not clear whether employers will need to apply for health insurance for already-employed employees as of February 4, 2022, or whether they will only need to apply for health insurance when they renew their work permit.

Foreign nationals without health insurance will not be able to obtain a new visa or to renew an existing visa.

• Penalties. Employers who fail to provide health insurance to employees or their eligible family members will be fined up to QAR 30,000 (1 USD equal to 3.64 QAR at the time of publication) multiplied by the number of persons for whom the insurance should have been provided. For repeat violators, the fine will be doubled. Additionally, employers or recruiters will have to cover the costs of any healthcare services provided to the relevant beneficiaries arising from the breach of the health insurance obligation.
• Update hiring processes. Employers should update their hiring processes by May 2022 to ensure that all of their foreign nationals hold health insurance.

Currently, most foreign nationals seeking work and residence in Qatar can enroll in a government health insurance scheme, private health insurance scheme, or choose both options, however it is not a prerequisite for obtaining a visa (including visas for visitors), nor it is obligatory for the visa sponsor to provide health insurance. However, in January 2021, the government of Qatar introduced a requirement for foreign nationals over the age of 60 to obtain private health insurance when applying for a new work residence permit or when renewing their existing permit. This temporary provision is expected to be overridden by the new health insurance law.

The purpose of the law is to standardize worker protections and working conditions in the region, especially at a time when health policy is a growingly important topic in immigration considerations around the world.

Additional information on the scope of health insurance coverage and exemptions, as well as information on employers providing basic health insurance for family members of workers they employ, is expected to be issued in the coming months.

Kuwait is also expected to publish a similar law in the near future.

We will publish relevant updates.