KUWAIT: A law on health insurance for citizens will be passed during the current parliamentary term and the government has concluded a three-year study of the bill, officials said. "It's high time it was approved to serve citizens and reduce the burden shouldered by the health sector in general," stressed officials. Furthermore, officials emphasized that the current private sector's infrastructure comprising various specialized private hospitals and clinics were fully capable of providing adequate heal
th services to both citizens and expatriates, reported Al-Rai. "Citizens have paid around KD 3 million in health insurance through special subscriptions or through the government or private institutions they worked for.

They also paid a lot in health insurance in order to obtain tourist visas to visit the US and European countries. We do have fully qualified and specialized private hospitals that are fully capable of providing various kinds of treatments to health insurance holders," officials explained.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has reiterated its commitment to presenting a united front against any grilling motion filed against any of its members in the upcoming period. The cabinet's statement follows reports suggesting that at least four interpolation motions are currently being prepared against ministers.

The cabinet is also intent on maintaining its progress in implementing its development plan and will not allow political tensions to affect its efforts, reported Al-Qabas. There is a widespread feeling that while the reports of some interpolation motions are indeed correct, others are rumors being used to put pressure on ministers to carry out a cabinet reshuffle to force information minister and minister of oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah from his post after he survived a recent grilling, as well as
a subsequent parliamentary no-confidence vote.

The cabinet will be studying all the points raised during Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah's recent grilling in order to take the necessary steps, said State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Roudhan Al-Roudhan, adding that it will also review the events that took place during the no-confidence vote session in order to devise new strategies to deal with political blocs in the future so as to gain their support and avoid further interpolations.

Meanwhile, the delay in issuing this year's annual government report will lead to additional delays in deciding the state budget due to the connection between the report and the parliamentary finance committee's budget schedule, meaning that any amendments to the report will necessitate making corresponding amendments to the budget.

On a separate issue, MP Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem revealed that the Development and Reform Bloc is to ask the parliamentary women's affairs committee to commit itself to presenting a report on the civil and social rights bill, accusing the committee of obstructing the passing of the legislation.

MP Dr. Maasouma Al-Mubarak, a member of the joint parliamentary committee assigned to discuss the bill, denied reports that the committee had reached agreement with the cabinet during Tuesday's session on adopting the bill, claiming that the cabinet still had reservations over the proposed legislation. - Kuwait Times