Article 15 of the Saudi Cooperative Health Insurance Law
المادة 15 من نظام الضمان الصحي التعاوني
A resident who is not under a work sponsorship takes the employer's place in the obligations the employer would otherwise bear under the Cooperative Health Insurance Law.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يحل المُقيم غير المشمول بكفالة عمل محل صاحِب العمل في الالتِزامات المُترتِبة على هذا الأخير بموجب هذا النِظام.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 15 explained in plain English
This article deals with the case of a resident who is not working under a work sponsorship. The Law places obligations on the employer, so if the resident is not under a work sponsorship, he takes the employer's place in these obligations.
The practical meaning is that the obligations that would have fallen on the employer fall on the resident himself. The nature of these obligations can be seen from Article 14, for example, which requires an employer who does not subscribe, or does not pay the insurance premiums, for the worker with him and his family members covered with him to pay all premiums due and a fine not exceeding the value of the annual subscription for each individual, with the possibility of barring him from recruitment.
According to this article, a resident who is not under a work sponsorship therefore bears what the employer bears of obligations under the Law, including those relating to his family members covered with him.
The article does not give examples of who the "resident not under a work sponsorship" is, or how subscription is made in his case; these are details the text does not mention.
After this article comes Article 16, which makes monitoring the quality assurance of the health services provided to beneficiaries the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
Anyone who is a resident without a work sponsorship and wants to know his obligations precisely would do well to consult a lawyer who specializes in health insurance cases.
Practical example
A non-Saudi investor resides in Jeddah without being under a work sponsorship to any employer, and his family lives with him. Under this article he takes the employer's place in the obligations the Law imposes, so he himself bears the obligations that would have fallen on an employer toward him and toward his family members covered with him.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 15 of the Saudi Cooperative Health Insurance Law
Who pays health insurance for a resident without a work sponsor?
A resident who is not under a work sponsorship takes the employer's place in the obligations imposed on the employer under the Law.
Do the employer's penalties apply to the resident himself?
The article makes a resident who is not under a work sponsorship take the employer's place in the obligations imposed on the employer under the Law.
Does the article define who a resident not under a work sponsorship is?
No. The article does not give examples or a definition of this category.
More articles on Persons Covered by Health Insurance
- Article 1
The article sets the Law's objective: providing and organizing health care for all non-Saudi residents in the Kingdom, with the option of applying it to citizens and others by decision of the Council of Ministers.
يهدف هذا النِظام إلى توفير الرعاية الصحية وتنظيمِها لجميع المُقيمين غير السعوديين في المملكة، ويجوز تطبيقُه على المواطنين وغيرِهم بقرار مِن مجلس الوزراء .
- Article 2
Cooperative health insurance coverage includes everyone to whom the Law applies and their family members, as the Council of Health Insurance determines under paragraph (b) of Article 5.
تشمل التغطية بالضمان الصحي التعاوني جميع من ينطبق عليهم هذا النِظام وأفراد أُسرِهم وِفقاً لما جاء في الفقرة (ب) مِن المادة الخامسة.
- Article 3
Anyone who sponsors a resident must subscribe to cooperative health insurance for him, and a residence permit is not granted or renewed without a policy covering the period of residence.
مع مُراعاة مراحِل التطبيق المُشار إليها في الفقرة (ب) من المادة الخامسة، وما تقضي بِه المادتان الثانية عشرة والثالثة عشرة مِن هذا النِظام، يلتزم كُل من يكفل مُق
- Article 12
Employees of government entities covered by the Law, and their families, are treated in government health facilities if they are contracted directly with those entities and under their sponsorship and their contracts state a right to treatment.
يكون علاج العاملين في الجِهات الحُكومية المشمولين بهذا النِظام وأفراد أُسرِهم في المرافِق الصحية الحُكومية متى كانوا مُتعاقدين مُباشرة مع هذه الجِهات وتحت كفالت
- Article 13
The Council of Health Insurance may, by decision, exempt institutions and companies that own qualified private medical institutions from subscribing for the services they provide to their personnel.
يجوز بقرار مِن مجلِس الضمان الصحي إعفاء المؤسسات والشركات التي تملك مؤسسات طبية خاصة مؤهلة من الاشتِراك في الضمان الصحي التعاوني عن الخدمات التي تُقدِّمُها لمنس
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.