The Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) issued a circulation to all qualified health insurance companies and accredited health care service providers that included a notification of the approval of the telemedicine service coverage within the benefits of the standard health insurance policy.
The circulation came in line with the strenuous efforts of the Kingdom to address the ramifications of Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and as a complement to the preventive and precautionary measures to ensure the protection of health and safety of the insured during the current period by providing them with the appropriate health care while being at home.
The CCHI spokesperson, Mr. Yasser Al-Ma'arak, said: “the health insurance policy covers now telemedicine service for 90 days from the circulation date according to the standards set out in it. These standards include that service providers shall be licensed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to practice telemedicine activity or have a contract with one of the accredited telehealth and telemedicine centers by the CCHI. The insured also is entitled to benefit from the telemedicine service one time per month by receiving a medical consultation and one time for the review within the limits of the standard health insurance policy."
He stated that among the standards set by the CCHI: the Insured medical record and medical prescription must be electronic, taking into consideration that medical reports and sick leaves can be provided electronically, and service providers shall commit to that the medical consultation cost for telemedicine service does not exceed the cost of the actual visit based on the contract with the insurance company.
Al-Ma'arak confirmed that health insurance companies and health care service providers must use their official communication channels to inform their customers of these procedures. He indicated that the health care service providers accredited by the CCHI can now obtain the telemedicine activity license through the Health care Services Platform "Seha" on the following link: https://www.seha.sa/Home/HLS
