RIYADH — The Council of Cooperative Health Insurance has made it mandatory for all business owners to cover their workers with medical insurance from the date of their arrival and hand them insurance cards within 10 days of their arrival in the Kingdom, a local daily reported. According to the council's new regulations, the insurance coverage becomes invalid only in case of the beneficiary's death, cancellation or expiration of his insurance documents or if he leaves the Kingdom on an exit-only visa. Married workers' medical insurance should cover pregnancy and child birth. Article 7 of the Cooperative Health Insurance System also requires owners of private hospitals to provide medical insure to their foreign workers. — SG
