How Labor Laws Can Transform Health Systems: The Case of Saudi Arabia

doi:10.1080/23288604.2016.1272982

Publication:
How Labor Laws Can Transform Health Systems: The Case of Saudi Arabia

dc.contributor.author	Al-Mazrou, Yagoub
dc.contributor.author	Al-Ghaith, Taghreed
dc.contributor.author	Yazbeck, Abdo S.
dc.contributor.author	Rabie, Tamer S.
dc.date.accessioned	2017-02-07T20:17:06Z
dc.date.available	2017-02-07T20:17:06Z
dc.date.issued	2017-01-31
dc.description.abstract	In 1999, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enacted a law that compels private employers to cover non-Saudi employees with health insurance. In the 16 years that followed, the health sector in the Kingdom has seen a dramatic shift in how services are provided and paid for, and the change continues at an accelerated speed. Based on interviews with 12 large private sector providers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Khobar, we found that a labor law enacted in 1999 led to rapid expansion of the insured population, both expatriates and Saudis, which led to a drastic change in how hospitals and other facilities are paid, and considerable more consistency in revenue stream. This article describes how the 1999 labor law, combined with other market conditions and public incentives, led to unprecedented growth in private sector capacity and how the insurance system changed the labor market for health care providers and put more pressure on physicians to engage in dual job holding in both the public and private sectors. The Kingdom later introduced another labor program, known as Nitaqat, designed to implement the Saudization initiative that started in 2011, which put pressure on all private companies to hire Saudi nationals. The interviews with large private health providers found the Nitaqat program to be the largest barrier to the growth of the sector. The Kingdom presents a striking case of how the health sector can be drastically impacted by laws and policies outside the sector and how health systems and reforms can, and should, take into account the whole range of policy instruments available to a country.	en
dc.identifier.citation	Health Systems & Reform
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/26010
dc.identifier.issn	2328-8604
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/26010
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Taylor and Francis
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
dc.subject	health reforms
dc.subject	health systems
dc.subject	labor laws
dc.subject	labor markets
dc.title	How Labor Laws Can Transform Health Systems	en
dc.title.subtitle	The Case of Saudi Arabia	en
dc.type	Journal Article	en
dc.type	Article de journal	fr
dc.type	Artículo de revista	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.associatedcontent	http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23288604.2016.1272982 Journal website (version of record)
okr.crossref.title	How Labor Laws Can Transform Health Systems: The Case of Saudi Arabia
okr.date.disclosure	2017-02-07
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Journal Article
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.externalcontent	External Content
okr.guid	131041488191112659
okr.identifier.doi	10.1080/23288604.2016.1272982
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/26010
okr.identifier.report	113002
okr.journal.nbpages	26-33
okr.language.supported	en
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.administrative	Middle East and North Africa
okr.region.country	Saudi Arabia
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Health Policy and Management
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Health Service Management and Delivery
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Health Systems Development & Reform
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Health and Poverty
okr.topic	Social Protections and Labor::Labor Law
okr.unit	Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice
okr.volume	3(1)
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