More and more people are emigrating to Dubai. Emigration is a major project and an important part of this is health and medical insurance. The insurance system in the United Arab Emirates is very different from that in most European countries.
This guide explains everything you need to consider when emigrating to Dubai with regard to health insurance.
Do I need health insurance?
In principle, there is no state insurance in Dubai. Every entrepreneur must insure themselves or their employees. In practice, however, they have not yet noticed any checks or penalties for not doing so.
Regardless of the legal requirements, you should take out health insurance. In the event of illness, this will cover the costs. Otherwise, you will have to pay the entire costs yourself privately. Depending on which health insurance you take out, you will receive different levels of benefits and the sum insured is also variable.
Provider comparison
The number of providers is large, but here is an overview of the best-known and most popular providers of health insurance in Dubai.
Local providers
On insurancemarket.ae you will find a large number of local insurance providers. These are mostly limited to the UAE and the GCC region. If you need local health insurance, you will definitely find it here and these providers are usually the cheapest. After briefly entering the most important data, you will receive various offers from GIG, Sukoon or other providers.
You can usually choose between different hospital packages. This is because there are also various „hospital chains“ that have correspondingly different service and quality standards. Here is a brief overview of the most important offers divided into packages.
As you can see here (we can also confirm this), the best local hospitals are definitely American Hospital, Mediclinic and King's College Hospital. These can be found in the Best Package for around AED 5,000, i.e. €1200 per year. However, the price refers to an example of a healthy man around 30 years old. The exact prices logically vary from person to person, more on this later.
International providers
However, if you generally travel a lot and want to enjoy a high level of insurance cover abroad, you should take out the following insurance policies. These are among the most popular among expats from Europe and have proven their worth in recent years.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution; you should obtain a quote for your individual requirements from each of the following 3 providers.
PassportCard
The PassportCard has been popular with digital nomads and expats in Dubai for many years. This insurance product is provided by Allianz Insurance from Germany and offers attractive insurance packages for various geographical zones.
The idea behind it is that, in the event of illness, the card can be topped up via the app and then used in hospital. This means you don't have to advance any costs yourself, but can pay directly with the card. Alternatively, you can of course pay yourself and then have the costs reimbursed if you wish.
Basically, the benefits are divided into 3 plans. As already mentioned, the costs are individual. However, here is a brief overview.
The complete performance table can be found here.
One of the biggest advantages, apart from the attractive packages, services and the app with card, is of course the German-speaking support. If you want German quality, you will find it at Passport Card and you will definitely feel more comfortable abroad if you know that the insurance company and its employees speak the same language.
Foyer (Global)
Another interesting provider is Foyer Global. The insurance company from Luxembourg offers international health insurance for expats of all kinds. Here, too, you get attractive plans with a modern infrastructure.
Just like PassportCard, there are 3 plans to choose from. The exact details can be found here.
April (International)
A French provider that has become so popular in recent years due to its low monthly insurance costs is April. This provider is slightly cheaper and you can choose between 4 different basic packages.
The exact details of the plans can be found in the brochure here.
Costs
The cost of health insurance is impossible to say in general terms, as it always depends from person to person. The biggest factors that determine how high the monthly insurance premium is always are:
- Gender
- Age
- Previous illnesses / history
- Scope of insurance (benefits)
- Insurance amount (maximum costs covered per year)
Of course, you can't choose the first 3 factors yourself, but the last 2 are variable and depend on your own needs. If you travel a lot, you should generally always take out international health insurance. This allows you to go to the doctor and receive treatment in a wide variety of countries.
Anyone who also fears the worst or would like to be covered should also consider increasing the insurance benefits. Extra services that are usually not included in the standard packages include
- Dentist
- Physiotherapy
- Psychotherapy
- Massages
- Single room in hospital
- Loss of earnings insurance in the event of illness
You can add or remove these extra points yourself or they are included in various insurance packages offered by providers. They are not necessary, but can make sense in certain cases.
Experience
In our experience, it is definitely worth taking out health insurance when emigrating to Dubai. If you want to save money, you can use a local provider, but we clearly recommend an international provider that covers a large number of countries. Our team is fully insured with Passport Card through Allianz Insurance from Germany.
Summary
In summary, it can be said that you should definitely take out health insurance when emigrating to Dubai. On the one hand, because this is required by law, on the other hand, because you are insured in case of illness and private hospitals are usually very expensive.
However, everyone must evaluate individually which insurance they need.
