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05 October 2024

Health insurance for all in Dubai by June

Penalties after deadline (File)

Published
By Wam

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will complete the implementation of Dubai’s Mandatory Health Insurance Scheme ISAHD (Bringing Happiness), by the end of June, 2016.

DHA is currently in the third and final phase of implementing the scheme on companies with less than 100 employees, including all spouses, dependents and domestic workers

Dr. Haidar Al Yousuf, Director of Public Health Funding at DHA said that 75 per cent of Dubai expatriates are now covered by the insurance, thanks to the mandatory health insurance.

"This means we have 25 per cent left to cover by June, we hope to have close to 100 per cent of Dubai expatriates covered by the insurance by the end of next month," he said.

He added that the implementation of the scheme, to have all Dubai resident covered by health insurance is going according to the adopted timeframe.

Dr. Al Yousuf said that linking the health insurance scheme to visa issuance and renewal in partnership with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) contributed to the success of the implementation process.

Dr. Al Yousuf called on all companies to hurry in insuring their employers before the end of June 2016, to avoid penalties imposed by Executive Council Resolution No.7 of 2016.

DHA has completed the first phase that included companies with more than 1,000 in 2014 and the second phase, which included companies with 999 to 100 employees in 2015.

Companies can get the health insurance packages that are in line with the scheme from the 46 health insurance companies permitted by DHA, that includes nine companies that provide the essential benefits package, Dr. Alyousuf added, many of these companies now provide competitive and affordable packages to employers, sponsors and individuals.