A long-term plan aimed at introducing an umbrella national health insurance scheme has been put into effect via Bahrain Law No. 23/2018 Health Insurance Law, which was passed on 30 May 2018. Bahrain Law No. 23/2018 consolidated the otherwise fragmented state of the various laws and provisions overseen by the Ministry of Health. In Bahrain, healthcare is provided for in article 8 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Through analysing Bahrain Law No. 23/2018, in particular the establishment of a Health Insurance Fund, this Legislative Insight elucidates the scope of and the obligations of institutions under Bahrain Law No. 23/2018. Bahrain Law No. 23/2018 remains in force as originally enacted, with no substantive amendments or new decisions affecting its core provisions as of May 2025. We are currently awaiting the official decision effecting Bahrain Law No. 23/2018.