Qatar introduces new health insurance rule for travellers

Qatar has put a new health insurance regulation in place for anyone wishing to visit the country. Here’s what that means for travellers…

All travellers to purchase Qatari health insurance

A brand new policy from the Qatari government, which already came into effect in Doha on 1 February, will see all travellers to Qatar being required to purchase a visitor health insurance policy.

As per reports, the insurance will need to be purchased from one of a number of specified, Qatari insurance providers found on a government health website, and must be done before entering the country.

According to the Ministry of Public Health’s website, once the visitor insurance policy has been purchased, the Ministry of Interior will then issue the appropriate visitor visa to enter the country.

The cost of the Qatari health insurance policy is QAR50 (R236) and is valid for exactly 30 days. If travellers wish to stay in the country longer than those 30 days, they will have to purchase a new health insurance policy.

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What does it cover?

According to Travel News, the policy covers the following:

• Emergency medical treatment up to QAR150 000 (R707 300) for the policy period and within the State of Qatar.
• Emergency medical assistance with a sub-limit of QAR35 000 (R165 055), including emergency ambulance transportation within the State of Qatar, and medical evacuation to the traveller’s country of residence.
• COVID-19 and quarantine with a sub-limit up to QAR50 000 (R235 790), which covers treatment for positive cases and quarantine expenses for confirmed cases up to QAR300 (R1 415) per day.
• In the event of the traveller’s death within the State of Qatar, the cost of repatriation is covered up to an amount of QAR10 000 (R47 160).

The policy applies to ALL travellers visiting the country, but NOT to those just passing through.

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