Bahraini Citizens to Get Free Unlimited Medical Treatment under Sehati

Bahraini citizens will now be able to receive free treatment without limit at all government medical facilities under the national health insurance programme (Sehati), the Supreme Council for Health (SCH)’s general secretariat said in a statement yesterday.

When the scheme is implemented, citizens can choose from several packages that will be made available. 

The scheme includes six packages, three for Bahrainis, two for expatriates and one for visitors.

Bahraini citizens' packages:

* One is free and mandatory. It will be funded by the government from Shifa and will be available in all the government facilities.

* The second is an optional package, available in government and private facilities, with the cost subsidised by the government.

* The third is a private package that will be available in government and private facilities, with cost to be borne by the beneficiary or the employer.

The private package will be insured by private insurance companies, while the first two packages will be covered by Shifa.

For expatriates:

One is mandatory and the other optional – will be funded by the employer and will be made available in government and private facilities.

The mandatory package will be covered under private companies and Shifa, while the optional package will remain with private companies only.

For visitors:

The visitors will be offered a mandatory package in all government facilities and funded by the visitor and insured by Shifa.

Services included:

Compulsory services will include comprehensive primary health care, inpatient-outpatient and accident, and emergency services in Bahrain; and conditional in-vitro fertilization, medicines, all types of medical tests, and treatment abroad, if required.

Plastic surgeries, cosmetic dentistry, opticals, weight-loss surgeries, private nursing care, Chinese therapy using needles, alternative medicine and private rooms are not included.

The dry run, without accounting and payment involving the government and some private hospitals, will run throughout the year, ahead of its official launch in 2024.