for Cooperative Health Insurance was  established by the government in 1999  [19].No informa- tion is available yet regarding the coop- erative health insurance scheme for the  population of Saudi Arabia other than  employees and expatriates.Arabia
Funding health care services is a central challenge faced by the MOH [32].To meet the growing population demands for health care and to ensure the qual- ity of services provided, the Council

While the market for cooperative  health insurance in Saudi Arabia started  with only 1 company in 2004, it cur- rently involves about 25 companies.he introduction of the scheme is in- tended to decrease the inancial burden  on Saudi Arabia due to the costs as- sociated with providing health services  free-of-charge.he third phase  included employees of all companies in  Saudi Arabia as well as domestic work- ers [14,37].Only the irst stage  has been implemented to date, with  the cooperative health insurance being  implemented gradually in a 3-phase  programme to employees of the private  sector and their dependants [14,37].he government is now  working systematically to apply the re- maining 2 stages--for employees in the  government sector and for pilgrims-- before they privatize the state-owned  health care facilities [14].In the irst stage,  the cooperative health insurance was  applied for non-Saudis and Saudis in the  private sector, in which their employers  have to pay for health cover costs.In the inal  stage, the cooperative health insurance  will be applied to other groups, such  as pilgrims [36].he irst phase covered companies with  500 or more employees, while the sec- ond phase applied to employers with  more than 100 workers.he implementation of a coop- erative health insurance scheme was  planned over 3 stages.In the  second stage, the cooperative health  insurance is to be applied for Saudis and  non-Saudis working in the government  sector.he government will pay the  cooperative health insurance costs for  this category of employee.