Saudi mandatory health insurance covers home care after discharge, CHI says

Saudi Arabia’s compulsory health insurance covers a range of home healthcare services, allowing eligible patients to continue treatment at home after leaving hospital, the Council of Health Insurance (CHI) has confirmed, according to a Gulf News report last updated on 15 October 2026. The Saudi daily Okaz carried the council’s statement on 14 October.

The services named in the report are urinary catheterisation, intravenous medication administered after surgery, and post-operative wound care. The council said medical care should extend beyond hospitalisation, Gulf News reported.

How patients reach the service

The Ministry of Health has introduced an electronic application process for beneficiaries seeking home healthcare, according to the report. The ministry also offers home services for other patient groups, including physiotherapy, nutritional support, respiratory care and medication management, Gulf News reported. The report does not say whether insurance covers those additional services.

According to Gulf News, the stated aims are better continuity of care, greater patient comfort, support for recovery and fewer repeat hospital visits. The report does not define which patients are eligible, give an effective date, or set out any cost, co-payment, network or pre-approval rules for the covered services. The Healthcare Daily could not open the council’s own statement, so the details above are as reported by Gulf News and Okaz, and repeated by Gulf Insider on 16 October.

A busy period for health insurance rules

The confirmation comes as insurers prepare for a product change. On 20 August 2026 the Insurance Authority (IA) directed health insurers in the Kingdom to offer a product that does not require pre-medical approval for outpatient services, available to customers from 1 November 2026. The authority said it would be an additional option alongside existing products and asked customers to complain to it if an insurer refuses to provide the option after that date.

Health insurance is the largest line in the Saudi market. The IA’s report for the first quarter of 2026 put health gross written premiums at SAR 18.5 billion, a 62 per cent share of total premiums of SAR 29.8 billion, with 14.5 million insured health beneficiaries. Total premiums rose 14.4 per cent year on year.

The CHI transferred most of its health insurance sector roles to the IA in March 2024. It kept responsibility for enforcing compulsory health insurance, determining who must be covered, accrediting and qualifying healthcare providers and running NPHIES, the platform for health insurance transactions, according to the council’s announcement at the time.

Our reading

• The Healthcare Daily’s reading: for insurers, home care cover moves some post-discharge treatment out of hospital beds and into patients’ homes. Whether that lowers or raises claims costs will depend on eligibility and pricing rules that have not been published.
• Home healthcare operators may gain from clearer insurance cover, though their access to insured patients is likely to run through provider accreditation and NPHIES billing, both of which sit with the CHI.
• With the outpatient product without pre-approval due on 1 November, employers buying group cover will want to know how it, and any change in the use of home care benefits, is reflected in renewal pricing.