Health Insurance

I will be arriving in August (hopefully) and I am quite concerned because the school I will be teaching for does not offer health insurance.  I tried to find information about how much it would cost to purchase a plan on my own (and what the plans would cover).  I just seem to get to pages that want me to fill in information about myself but gives me NO information about the insurance they provide.

Would someone please tell me about purchasing health/dental insurance and is it necessary?  The woman who interviewed me informed me that the government insurance is usually adequate - is this the case?  Thank you so much for your anticipated response.

as is anything that has to do with the government - u get what u pay for. some hospitals have queues, others do not. it does suffice but depends on your tendency for injury. at most you probably require a visit to the clinic for some meds, not a big deal, theres a clinic in every area of Kuwait.

of course for peace of mind, it is always better to have insurance; most of us get company funded insurance, not sure about actually going for private insurance. it was discussed on 248am.com if memory serves. the author was looking for it, im sure if u search his posts u'll find what ur looking for :)

Hey!

u can contact Alico..its a good insurance company and international one..its better to have an insurance here in kuwait.

Mousa

Treating in government hospitals and clinics is OK however there are some points to be noted

1- It is time consuming because of large queues
2- Medical staff attention towards patients is usually very low since they deal with lots of people.
3- Appointments for some medical procedures (ie. tests, transfer to specialized clinic, MRI scan, etc) are normally lengthy, could take you between 1 week to 2 months to go and get some tests or special treatments done. 

However because they work on many people so you will find doctors and other staff more experienced in what they do though they do it in a very "lets say" careless manner in your eyes.

As for private hospitals, you can get your things done very quickly from going to doctors, getting yourself checked, tests etc and getting treatment. And of course the staff is so great and pay a lot of attention and care to you since you are paying money and since they aren't many people compared to government.

My advice is that it helps to get yourself an insurance plan, probably a plan of around 300-400KD per year would be normally OK but you need to negotiate and compare.

Some insurance companies in Kuwait are:

Gulf insurance co. www.gulfins.com.kw
Kuwait insurance co. www.kic-kw.com   
Ahlia insurance co. www.alahleia.com

And many other companies are who are (reselling insurance).

I only advise you to stay away from any company that will give you NAS insurance, they're crap and their insurance is good for nothing unless you manage to negotiate good terms contract.

:one Moe :D

however, i do beg to differ on one small point :P

NAS aint crap - we have them thru my company and its quite a breeze to get stuff done at Dar Al Shifa :)

I certainly hope for that breeze to never cease :D however I tried them for several years and believe me they are big cheaters. Insha Allah nothing serious happen but when it does, you will see their real coverage. Unless your companies is having a good coverage terms with them my friend. :)

Thank you all so much for your replies.  I think if it is only 300-400 KD per year, it would definitely be worth the peace of mind.  I don't usually visit the hospital - but if I should need it, I want the best experience possible.

I love this forum, and I appreciate everyone's help.