Indian expatriates in the UAE can now arrange health insurance for their families back home.
Dubai’s Aster DM Healthcare and RAK Insurance have teamed up to offer policies costing between Dh225 and Dh3,800 a year for the primary member.
The policies cover accidents and care at 5,500 hospitals in India. The primary member needs to be a UAE resident, He or she can add a spouse, children, parents and in-laws who live in India.
The cut-off age to add family members is 70 years and the plan can be renewed until a member is 75 years. New-born babies are not automatically covered, and need to wait until the policy renewal anniversary to be added. Congenital conditions are also not covered.
Called Arise, the plan also provides outpatient benefits in India at Aster DM Healthcare’s eight hospitals in India.
The premium increases depend on the age and benefits of the coverage, but can range between 10 and 30 per cent a year.
“We expect to cover 10,000 [people] in the first year after launch,” said Dr Azad Moopen, the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare. He expects to expand the programme to other Arabian Gulf countries with large Indian expat communities after the first year.
About 2.6 million Indians live in the UAE. The huge Indian market, and the increasing competition in the UAE healthcare market, are among the draws for the health insurance players. Dubai alone has licensed 45 health insurance companies.
“The UAE is a competitive market, but it is still a market we have to be in, and if priced properly it is a good market,” said Andrew Smith, the chief executive of RAK Insurance. “The target market of Arise is attractive.”
Dubai’s mandatory health insurance law that is currently coming into force is expected to cover more than 95 per cent of the population, up from 70 per cent last year, according to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).
While the premiums for blue-collar workers are expected to remain flat, that of white-collar workers across the UAE are expected to go up by 12 to 15 per cent this year, Mr Smith said.
“We need to control [medical] costs in association with the administration, educate people and focus on preventive treatment,” he said.
DHA is on target to introduce health insurance premium regulation this year, DHA told The National last month.
Medical inflation in the UAE is expected to touch 3.4 per cent by 2020, up from 2.3 per cent in 2014, according to an Alpen Capital investment bank report.
“With the economy under stress, the government has to promote healthcare infrastructure, and to do that there has to be a heavy reliance on the private sector,” Sanjay Vig, the managing director of Alpen Capital said last week. “Any regulation on the [prices of] private sector will be staggered.”
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