IJSR - International Journal of Scientific Research

Dr. Ahood S. Al-Ghamdi; Dr. Eman S. Al-Otaibi; Dr. Abdulla D. AL-Khathami

Volume : VII, Issue : VIII, August - 2018

Perception of Health Insurance among Ministry of Health Physicians in Saudi Arabia

Dr. Ahood S. Al Ghamdi, Dr. Eman S. Al Otaibi, Dr. Abdulla D. Al Khathami

Abstract :

Recently, there has been an increasing demand and expectation of health care (HC) by Saudi Arabian citizens that has posedmany challenges to the government. One strategy employed by the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) to overcome these challenges is the expansion of health insurance (HI) to cover all Saudi and non–Saudi citizens and visitors. To better understand the possible impact of HI, we conducted a cross–sectional study to assess MOH physicians’ HI perception regarding its effect on HC, and sought to determine the correlation between physicians’ sociodemographic factors and reported perception. We found that participants believe that HI implementation will positively affect the primary domains of the World Health Organization health system framework. Additionally, positive correlations between physicians’ sociodemographic factors and HI perception was observed. Future research should comprehensively study HI by assessing the perception of citizens and HC workers in other government institutions and the private sector.