Medical insurance for pregnant women who is on visit visa

Dear,

my wife is in Saudi Arabia on visit visa and want to secure medical insurance card which cover maternity or any HOSPITAL which is offering low cost for maternity.

appreciate your support.

Thanks

Mohammed Riaz

- @mdarif53

I don't know about low cost hospitals for maternity so someone else can comment on that.

What I can tell you (and this has been discussed many many times in these forums), is that your wife cannot get medical insurance in Saudi without an Iqama.  No provider in KSA will give it to her.  Your only option is to go for an international medical insurance like CIGNA or Allianz (on pay and claim basis - not direct billing) which will be very expensive and in most cases, maternity benefits will have a waiting period before you can use them.

- @XTang

@mailmeksyed , thanks for the response.

can i apply online by myself for medical insurance?

how do i will know that it will cover maternity.

- @mdarif53

@mailmeksyed: 

I think we are talking about different things.  AXA and other company's policies for visit visa holders are NOT medical insurance but rather "emergency medical insurance".  This means that you can't go for normal OPD or maternity or whatever (and this is what he is looking for).  But if, god forbid, you have a life threatening event or emergency, your expenses will be covered under those policies.  The policies we have as residents are completely different to visit visa insurances.   And these policies are uploaded into CCHI and subsequently linked to Absher - that is why your Iqama cannot even be issued without medical insurance.   I see this confusion every single day as I am in the healthcare sector - visit visa patients come in for different things and are shocked when we ask them to pay as their visit visa insurance doesn't cover treatment.

This applies to Group policies as well - when I didn't have an Iqama, our provider i.e. Tawuniya couldn't issue me an insurance card in Saudi and instead, had a NAS card issued for me out of Bahrain (Which covered me in Saudi but not direct billing).   And I am talking about a VVIP level insurance (not even normal VIP).  Even today, it is the same case.  I have insurance in Saudi as I have an Iqama but the family doesn't as they don't (live in Bahrain).  So my Tawuniya policy, at the back end, is linked to NAS in Bahrain.  This means that if the family gets treatment in Saudi, they have to pay and claim.

As I said before:

1) For "medical insurance", he needs an international policy issued outside of Saudi which covers Saudi.  As inside Saudi, they won't issue it without an Iqama (I mean normal policy i.e. OPD treatment, maternity etc.)

2) There is no option to buy medical insurance (Saudi issued) as an "individual" in Saudi FOR EXPATS as for us to be here, we MUST have medical insurance to begin with (provided by our companies).  This is why, if you look at the websites of insurance companies, the only individually purchasable health insurance that you will find, will be for Saudis.  As an example, see this link from the biggest provider i.e. Tawuniya - scroll down and see conditions

https://www.tawuniya.com.sa/en/individu … -my-family

@mdarif53:

You cannot.  I have explained above. if you don't believe me, go and see AXA Saudi website. The only "healthcare insurance" product they have is for businesses.    And most importantly, forgetting Iqama issues, ANYWHERE in the world, if you get insurance as an "individual", you will NOT be able to access maternity benefits till the waiting period expires (usually 6 months to a year).  And if you don't declare your wife's condition on the insurance sign up form, they will deny claims.

- @XTang

Thanks for the interpretation.

just for your information and suggestion.

while extending my family visit visa ( through Arabian Shied insurance) i found there is drop down list with statement "maternity".

if i tick the maternity box than they are charging around 6000SAR (3 months) and if i did not tick the check box than they are charging 40 SAR (3 months)

please advice on below point.

If they are charging 6000 SAR for maternity than i believe it should cover maternity irrespective of situation (OPD or Emergency)

i was trying to approach Arabian Shied insurance representative but didn't succeed.

[link under review]

- @mdarif53

CCHI links with border number if iqama is not available. I have seen many cases in my office medical insurance given to visit visa and business visa holders by AXA for corporate group. Don't be judgemental and pessimistic by saying NO let him try the options.  The forum is for providing information not to give personal opinions for others. Each case is different.

- @mailmeksyed

@XTang Any individual can be registered with boarder #. Visit visa holder can be insured if employer get agreed to registered them.

Yes CCHI accepts border number or Iqama number.  That is standard process.  Visit visa insurance becomes active once your border number is issued.   But that is not the debate we are having above.

@XTang hello my friend! My wife is on visit visa when we come to Rasta Nura, while I am on work visa. can I have an estimate on how much is the normal delivery around that area? she will be 7 months pregnant when we arrive