Civil health insurance expands coverage

AMMAN — Health Minister Feras Al Hawari on Tuesday emphasised the importance of amendments to the civil health insurance bylaw, which was approved by the Cabinet on Monday.

The bylaw aims to expand the number of people covered in the civil health insurance by adding new categories, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In a statement, the minister said that the amended bylaw will come into effect 60 days after being published in the Official Gazette. 

As per the amendments, single sons and daughters of subscribers aged 18 years are eligible for coverage. This also applies to sons and daughters aged 25 years; the unemployed pay JD5 a month and the employed pay JD10 a month, while employed daughters pay JD5 a month.  

The subscribers are allowed to add their employed or retired spouses on their plans, even if they are covered by another health insurance system, he said. 

He added that the amendments also allow for subscribers to add their divorced and widowed sisters with no male children above 25 years, provided that they are jobless or do not receive pension. 

Employed and retired spouseless sisters are eligible to be added the subscriber's plan, provided that they have no children, or their male children are under the age 25 years.   

The beneficiaries are allowed to cancel the dependents' health insurance and resume it at any time, Petra added.