Resident or
entry visas will not be processed unless the compulsory health insurance plan
is submitted.
From early next year, all
residents and visitors to Dubai will be required to have a compulsory health
insurance cover to be provided by their employers or sponsors.
Roughly, two million people in the Emirate are expected to
benefit from this scheme, including blue-collar workers, many of whom are
currently without any basic health cover. Nearly a million people in Dubai are
already insured.
While the health cover for the UAE
nationals will be provided by the government, employers will be responsible for
resident expatriate workers and their dependents. Those sponsoring their wives
and children will have to buy individual health packages separately. Domestic
workers will also have to be covered.
With this scheme, Dubai will be
second emirate in the country to provide compulsory health insurance cover to
residents. Currently, only the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (Haad) has
successfully been operating a similar model for its residents since 2005.
The initially planned
health-funding model should have been rolled out over four years between 2009
and 2012 but was deferred when the financial crisis hit in 2008. Now, however,
the scheme will be extended to all in a phased process in two-and-a-half years
until 2016.
Every Emirati’s benefit package
will include provision of preventive and curative health services based on
DHA’s policies. The package for residents requires that the health insurance
coverage offered by the employer/sponsor should not be less than the ‘essential
benefits package’. A co-payment has to be made by the insured to access
services such as maternity, emergency, surgical procedures, etc, but will not
include procedures such as cosmetic surgeries.
Visitors to Dubai will only be
able to access emergency services.
At a later stage, the health card
will be replaced by the insurance card which will be accepted by all government
hospitals.
The officials also announced
details of the Health Insurance Law for Dubai that was recently approved by His
Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Violators will be slapped with fines
ranging from Dh500 to Dh500,000.
