Expats in UAE consider private health insurance is top priority when relocating

A recent survey has established that UAE expatriate professionals consider the provision of private health insurance is the most important benefit.

Of all the perks offered as part of a relocation package for UAE-bound expats, private health insurance is considered as being at the top of the list and more important than the combined amounts of education allowances, housing allowances and life insurance. Some 45 per cent of expat professionals and their dependents living in the emirates visit hospitals, clinics and doctors four times a year or more, and 65 per cent of respondents to the survey said they would be happy to pay between one and five per cent of their salaries for better coverage. The remaining 35 per cent would pay even more.

In 2016, healthcare costs in UAE medical facilities rose by just under 11 per cent, with a further rise in 2017 of 9.9 per cent. The rate of the increases was almost double those in Hong Kong, and 20 per cent more than in Singapore’s, both of which also depend on expatriate workers as an essential part of their economies. Experts now believe medical costs in the UAE are increasing at an unsustainable rate, causing employers to express concerns that medical insurance may soon cost more than salaries. One issue identified by the survey was that insured expats were disconnected from the actual cost of their treatments and medications, with 74 per cent of the UAE’s expat employees saying they’d like more exact information about the costs incurred by insurers on their behalf.

The unquestionable benefits of private medical insurance matter a great deal to professional expats in the UAE, with almost half only taking on jobs which provide such insurances a part of their relocation packages. In January next year, a panel discussion will take place in Dubai, focused on the UAE’s soaring corporate health insurance medical costs. Topics will include greater transparency about costs, tighter monitoring of claims and the reduction of the waste, fraud and abuse which is at present wrecking the system. Also under discussion will be plans to present the UAE as a medical tourism destination and the attracting of more medical professionals to the emirates on the basis pf long-term stays.