The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is to introduce compulsory health insurance in 2014.
The law, which was passed on 3 December, has been postponed on numerous occasions and was originally mooted to swiftly follow Abu Dhabi's regulations, which were put in place over 8 years ago.
The DHA has used the Abu Dhabi scheme as its model. The main features of the new law are as follows:
• It introduces compulsory, company paid health insurance throughout Dubai, including the free zones and development areas (e.g. Jebel Ali Free Zone, Internet City, etc.)
• It covers all residents except Emiratis; rules for visitors will follow in due course
• All employees will be provided with minimum, mandatory healthcare benefits to be regulated under the law. Employers will have the option to upgrade cover at their discretion
• It will come into effect in 2014 and will "roll out" until 2016
• Penalties of up to AED500,000 (£85,000) apply for non-compliance
Ed Watling, Head of Healthcare at Kudos Financial services, commented: "This has been expected for some time and it is positive that DHA have opted to follow the Abu Dhabi model to bring a level of consistency across the UAE.
"Companies operating in the UAE should use this has an opportunity to audit their international health insurance. Medical inflation in the UAE is one of the fastest growing in the world and it pays to review premiums and benefits.
"The international health insurance market is complicated but very competitive and regular reviews of benefits are to be recommended".
