• The comprehensive renaissance experienced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has led to the recruitment of a large number of foreign workers, exceeding six million individuals, to participate alongside citizens in sustaining this renaissance, its development, and preserving the achievements realized through it in various fields.
• Given that this large workforce requires continuous medical care for their benefit and for the benefit of the citizens themselves, the need has arisen to issue a law that guarantees adequate healthcare for the resident and his family members. This law will help develop and organize health services in the Kingdom, in addition to alleviating the burden on government health facilities.

• This law aims - as stated in its first article - to ensure the provision and regulation of healthcare for all non-Saudi residents in the Kingdom, with the possibility of generalizing this successful experience in the future to include Saudis and others who do not fall under the description of residents, in phases that include Saudis working in the private sector and some categories of non-Saudis who are not classified as residents as the first phase.

• To ensure the necessary flexibility, the order of implementation was made by an instrument easier than the instrument of issuance.

• In order to achieve the objectives sought by this law, Article Two stipulates that coverage under the Cooperative Health Insurance includes, in addition to the beneficiary, his family members.

• This law is implemented in stages according to what the Council of Health Insurance deems appropriate due to its novelty and modernity, and to simultaneously give the private sector the opportunity to establish companies qualified to undertake the responsibilities of cooperative health insurance.

• To achieve the objectives of this Law, Article Three has imposed on every sponsor of a resident the obligation to participate in favor of this resident in the Cooperative Health Insurance. This article also stipulates that it is not permissible to grant or renew a residence permit except after obtaining the insurance document, without prejudice to the implementation phases determined by the Council of Health Insurance.

• To ensure the best implementation of this Law and to guarantee the representation of relevant entities in the Council of Health Insurance, Article Four stipulated that this Council shall be chaired by the Minister of Health, with membership including representatives from the concerned government entities at the level of Undersecretary, representatives from the private sector, in addition to representatives from other government sectors. To achieve the same objective, this Article also stipulated that the Council shall be appointed and its membership renewed by a decision of the Council of Ministers, so that the Council is fully informed about who will participate in it, whether from the private sector or government entities.

Article Five has clarified the competencies of the Council, the most important of which include preparing the draft implementing regulation and issuing decisions related to organizing the variable matters concerning the application of this law, most notably determining the stages of its implementation, identifying the family members of the beneficiary covered by the Cooperative Health Insurance, and specifying the method and amount of the contribution percentage of the beneficiary and the employer in the value of the subscription to the Cooperative Health Insurance. The Council of Health Insurance is given the discretion to determine the method by which the beneficiary contributes to the value of the policy as it deems appropriate. The law also grants the Council the authority to set the maximum limit for the subscription value in the health insurance policy, based on a specialized study. This allows for competition among insurance companies within a maximum limit that cannot be exceeded, thereby serving the interests of the beneficiaries.

The law has granted the Council of Health Insurance this authority to issue decisions because these variable competencies and tasks require that the issuance of related decisions be through a flexible legal instrument that does not require extensive procedures, which ensures a deliberate and gradual implementation of the law.

This article also grants the Council the authority to qualify cooperative insurance companies to operate in the field of health insurance, the power to accredit health facilities that provide Cooperative Health Insurance services, and to determine the financial fees for these services.

The Council is entrusted with the task of issuing the financial regulation for its revenues and expenditures, including the salaries and bonuses of its employees, after consulting the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. It is also tasked with issuing the internal regulations for its workflow. Pursuant to this article, the Council may appoint a Secretary-General and establish a General Secretariat to organize the Council’s work and assist it in fulfilling its duties.

• Article six clarified that the expenses necessary for the council to perform its duties shall be from its own revenues as stipulated in paragraph (E) of Article five.

• Article Seven specified the minimum basic health services that must be included in the cooperative health insurance policy. These services do not imply a breach of what is stipulated in the Social Insurance Law regarding the obligation to treat work injuries or what companies, institutions, or individuals provide in terms of health services to all their affiliates, citizens, and others, as this was clearly stated at the end of the article.

• Article Eight allowed the employer to expand the scope of the Cooperative Health Insurance Policy to include other diagnostic and therapeutic fields but at an additional cost. The purpose of this provision is to exclude any assumption that it is not permissible to add to what the law has stipulated as items for the health insurance policy, considering that the law's text is mandatory..

• Whereas the Cooperative Health Insurance document requires some time to be obtained, and to ensure the health safety of the expatriate resident and that he is not infected with contagious diseases that may pose a risk to him or to the citizens, Article Nine has authorized the Minister of Health to arrange matters related to health preventive procedures in this case, including examinations and vaccinations.