KUWAIT: The health insurance problem still continues, said officials at the Ministry of Health. At first the MoH used a Health Guarantee System, which generated revenues in surplus of KD 103 million for the state. Then law 1/59 changed the Health Guarantee System into a health insurance plan, which worked with a number of dissimilar insurance companies. Anyhow, many of the insurance companies borrowed money from the state but never paid it back. "Some of these companies still be indebted us millions," said one MoH official. Insurance companies are in debt the Kuwaiti government over KD 6 million.

"We decided to return to the old system, but we had problems with some local banks that totally rejected the whole idea while others demanded an additional fee for providing the service," clarifies the MoH official.