Do Brits need expat health insurance in Dubai?
If you have spent any time in Dubai it is highly likely that you have run across a fair number of Brits in the Emirate. In fact, it has been estimated that as many as 240,000+ Brits live in the UAE. While Dubai is great for employment, many British expats love to spend some or all of their vacations back in the UK visiting families, stocking up on goods, and, most of all, utilizing the National Health System for checkups, and care.
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Due to the UK’s widely available healthcare, many expats in Dubai might wonder whether they actually need to secure expat health insurance while they are in Dubai. Here, we take a look at the current rules around health insurance in Dubai, and whether expats from the UK need to actually secure it.
Expat health insurance regulations for Brits in Dubai
In Dubai, all residents (including foreigners) must secure health insurance in order for their visa to be issued or renewed. The important thing to be aware of here is that this coverage must meet certain requirements that have been set by the government.
These requirements are quite different from other countries and include mandatory minimum levels of coverage that all plans sold in the Emirate must cover. These include:
- An annual maximum claim limit of AED 150,000
- Basic healthcare in Dubai, and emergency care throughout the UAE
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions
- Ambulance, emergency, laboratory, outpatient, and inpatient coverage (Some exclusions apply)
- Companion accommodation
If you would like to learn more about the required coverage in Dubai, you can find the complete rules here. One of the more interesting things to point out here is the fact that all compliant health insurance plans – those that meet the government’s coverage requirements – must be secured in Dubai.
In other words, these plans must be secured from an approved insurer. Securing cover from a Dubai-based insurer that has not been approved will mean your coverage does not meet the minimum requirements, and your visa will not be issued.
One VERY important thing to be aware of with health insurance in Dubai
With the above-mentioned health insurance plans, these are actually required to be supplied by your employer. This means that if you are working here, your employer should provide a plan for you. Of course, if you have dependents or employees you will be required to secure coverage for them.
The thing is, these plans are not required to cover healthcare outside of Dubai, and the UAE. At a first glance for many Brits, this might not be that big of a deal. If you have cover in Dubai to cover any medical care needed in Dubai, and access to the NHS back in the UK, you should be good right? Wrong on two accounts.
First, while Dubai does have mandatory benefits that all plans must cover, the limits associated with these plans are often relatively low, especially if your company settles for the basic plans. We have seen cases where one hospital visit for a fairly serious medical condition exceeded the maximum coverage limit, leaving the person to pay for the rest of the bill, and any subsequent medical care out of pocket.
Second, and more importantly, is the fact that there are rules around who is eligible for NHS coverage. If you are a British expat who lives outside the European Economic Area, you are not actually eligible for healthcare through the NHS if you return home for a visit.
Beyond that, if you do seek medical care via the NHS you will find that your medical costs can be taxed at an additional 50% of the cost of care. In other words, you will be paying 150% of the cost of care.
This could turn out to be a rather high bill as some expats who returned home on a visit, and had a medical emergency recently found out. This couple (who live, and work in Zambia) were on a trip home to the UK when the wife went into early labor. Despite being British citizens who have paid taxes, they were hit with a nearly GBP 40,000 hospital bill.
So what are my options when it comes to expat health insurance in Dubai?
First, and foremost, you will need some form of expat health insurance while living in Dubai. Many Brits however might find that the cover provided by their employer is not quite enough to meet their needs. This is true especially if you plan on traveling for work or pleasure, or returning home to the UK for medical treatment.
If this is the case, then your best bet is an international health insurance plan. These plans are designed to support expats, and are, as the name suggests, international in nature. This means that you will be able to receive medical care almost anywhere in the world (although, most plans don’t cover the US).
These plans also come with much higher limits than local plans, and ones that only cover the minimum required by the government in Dubai. This means that if you do also seek care in Dubai, international plans will still ensure your bills will be covered.
Beyond that, there are a number of plans available in Dubai that meet the minimum coverage required by the government. This means they are compliant, and you will be issued a visa with these plans.
If you would like to learn more about expat health insurance in Dubai, or get a free quote, contact Pacific Prime Dubai today. As expats ourselves, we are uniquely suited to helping you find the best plan for you, and your family.
When she's not typing away on her keyboard, she's reading poetry, fueling her insatiable wanderlust, getting her coffee fix, and perpetually browsing animal Instagram accounts.
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