Willingness to Pay for Employment-Based Health Insurance: A Study among Government Employees in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Currently, government employees in Saudi Arabia receive free healthcare services from the public healthcare system. Moreover, health services are provided to private-sector employees through mandatory cooperative health insurance of the employer. In the future, the government plans to introduce employment-based health insurance for those working in the public sector. In this research, the willingness of those working in the public sector to pay for employment-based health insurance has been examined. We interviewed 1230 participants from Qassim region using an auto-administration online questionnaire from February 3rd to February 28th, 2022. Altogether, 49.6% of participants reported that they would be willing to pay (WTP) for employment-based health insurance, with a mean monthly contribution of SAR 166.47 (US$.44.4) per family. Moreover, the findings of this research revealed that participants' willingness to pay for health insurance is impacted by a number of socioeconomic factors including age, gender, household size, prevalence of chronic diseases in the family, possession of private health insurance policies, and satisfaction with healthcare (p<0.05). The findings of this research can serve to help policymakers develop employment-based health insurance initiatives with acceptable premiums.