Ruling on medical insurance
Question:
I would like to tell Your Eminence that Riyadh Reconstruction Company secures healthcare coverage to its employees and their families for free through paying the bills of their medical treatment to the medical institutions authorized by the company according to a specific order. The company is now intending to cancel this system and make a contract with some companies concerned with health insurance to supply the medical needs for its employees and their families. Riyadh Reconstruction Company will pay a certain amount of money per person regardless of the increase or decrease of the medical services against the paid sum during the year.
My question in this case is:
- Is it permissible for the company to conclude such a contract with the health insurance company?
- Is it permissible for the employees of this company to make use of the medical services provided according to the terms of this contract? Please take into consideration that the employees are required to pay a certain percentage of the costs of this healthcare service according to the terms of this contract, which has to be paid to the health insurance company directly.
- Is this case included in the Fatwa of the Permanent Committee no. 20629, dated 13/ 10 1419 A.H. 1
Answer:
The health insurance mentioned in your Fatwa request is one form of commercial insurance which is legally prohibited since it involves fraudulence, gambling and using people’s money unjustly. The Council of Senior Scholars has issued a decree prohibiting commercial insurance. So, it is neither permissible for Riyadh Reconstruction Company to conclude this contract, nor is it permissible for its employees to make use of or subscribe to it.
See Fatwas of Permanent Committee, Group 1, vol. 5, p. 310. ↩
