UAE: Dubai residents' health cover triples to 2.7 mln
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Sep 2015
Nearly 2.7 million Emiratis and expatriate residents have been brought under Dubai’s mandatory health insurance scheme by the end of July, the deadline for the implementation of the second phase of the rollout of the programme.
Dr Haidar Al Yousuf, Director of the Health Funding Department at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) which is implementing the scheme, told Gulf News that at the start of the first phase in 2014, only one million people had health insurance in Dubai.
By 30 June next year, after the rollout of the third phase, 3.2 million people, or every individual in Dubai, will be covered under the scheme, he said.
“I think this will make a big difference to standardisation of health care in not just the Emirate but in the country,” said Dr Al Yousuf.
The DHA has tied up with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs to link new visas and visa renewals to health insurance cover for foreign workers in the emirate. No visa will be issued or renewed if the worker does not have the insurance.
Dubai’s mandatory medical insurance scheme started with employees in companies with a workforce of more than 1,000 in the first phase, the deadline for which was 31 October last year. Phase 2 applied to companies with 100 to 999 employees. The deadline for Phase 3 is 30 June 2016, covering all companies with 100 or fewer employees.
The insurance is also compulsory for spouses, dependents and domestic workers of employees.