Healthcare in the Arab Union

Healthcare in the Arab Union is universal, and is handled by agencies of the federal government. Funded exclusively via a national single-payer system of public health insurance with full coverage of all healthcare services, the viability and hence presence within the healthcare sector of for-profit insurance brokers has been all but eliminated.

Public single-payer insurance
All hospitals, clinics, treatment centres, and other facilities and programs operated by the NHS are directly funded via the federally-administered national single-payer insurance system, as are all other healthcare services provided by outside parties which have been accredited by the Ministry of Health and which provide an essential healthcare service which cannot reasonably be provided in a timely manner by NHS-operated services.

Administered by the Director of Public Health Budgeting under the Ministry of Health,

Private insurance
While every citizen of majority age is legally required to possess a public policy,

Some wealthier individuals do also purchase private policies, however, this is essentially a symbolic luxury as even privately-owned healthcare services are covered by the single-payer system where they are needed, and no facility may prioritise private over public policy-holding patients; similarly, any procedure which, being unavailable domestically, must be sought abroad, is fully covered by public health insurance, including patient (and, if relevant, immediate family) transportation, lodging and all other associated costs.

Some more or less rare circumstances in which a private health insurance policy might outperform exclusive reliance on single-payer health insurance