Affordable Health Insurance in the UAE

The above plans and premiums are for AED 1,000,000 Sum insured for 1 Adult of 30 Years for Dubai city.

Since health insurance in the UAE is compulsory for all residents, insurers in the UAE come with several affordable health insurance plans. As a UAE national or working individual, you may get complementary health insurance, however, it is not an obligation for your employer to provide you with medical coverage. Therefore, several companies don’t offer insurance benefits and individuals need to look for viable options to receive the medical benefits.

Further, with an extensive insurance market, UAE offers a host of medical insurance plans offering an array of benefits. Along with that, the coverage includes treatment costs of medical conditions ranging from minor checkups to even life-threatening diseases. Additionally, you can cover all your family members within a single plan, ensuring that it is cost-effective and falls right within your budget. As we go along, the article below brings you the details of affordable health insurance plans in the UAE along with their features and benefits.

Finding the Most Affordable Health Insurance in the UAE

With medical care becoming expensive day by day, it is crucial to opt for health insurance that bears the cost of your treatments and regular checkups. However, not all health insurance plans in the UAE are cheap or affordable. Over and above, individuals with low salaries often find it difficult to purchase a health plan as per their family and personal requirements. Thus, keeping this in mind, insurance companies in Dubai have started offering essential benefits plans (EBPs) for individuals, their spouses, and children supporting their financial wellbeing and health.

Usually, the essential benefits plans are the most viable options for individuals with salaries below AED 4,000. This is because, it includes basic medical checkups such as diagnostic tests, general treatments, and surgeries for non-life-threatening diseases. However, you may need prior approval from the insurer for health conditions that are not covered in the EBP.

Offered at low costs, EBPs are normalised health plans with premiums ranging from AED 550 to 650 per year with an annual medical coverage of AED 150,000. Albeit, you may opt for higher insurance premiums depending on various plans and coverages.

Companies Offering Affordable Health Insurance Plans in the UAE

A leading nation in providing healthcare services in the Gulf region, UAE houses a myriad of insurance companies offering numerous health insurance with impeccable benefits at affordable costs. Here is the list of insurance companies offering cheap and affordable health insurance plans in the UAE. So, pick up the threads as we tread along to know about the best and affordable health insurance plans in the UAE for you!

DNIRC Health Insurance

Founded in 1991, Dubai National Insurance and Reinsurance Company (DNIRC) is amongst the first insurance companies to be listed in the Dubai Financial Market. In comparison to its competitors, DNIRC offers some of the cheapest health insurances in the UAE. In addition, the plan covers the policyholder and his/her family against a range of health issues, including hospital charges, therapies, and so on.

Features of DNIRC Health Insurance Plans

The comprehensive health insurance includes in and outpatient services, ambulance services, private nursing care, diagnostics, and surgeries.
Get 100% direct billing across the DNIRC approved hospital network and up to 80% outside the network.
The plan bears the repatriation cost of the policyholder in case of any unforeseen events.
With DNIR health insurance, you also get maternity benefits of up to AED 15,000.
The plan also includes therapy expenses for chemotherapy, radiation therapy and more.
For one claim-free year, you also get several benefits like routine annual checkups, annual breast and prostate screenings, optical cataract surgery etc.
DNIRC essential benefits plans start from AED 535 annually and cover those individuals having salaries less than AED 4,000.

AXA Health Insurance

AXA Insurance Company is one of the largest and oldest insurance companies in the world. In the UAE, the company is providing insurance services for the past 70 years and has significant experience in offering specific health plans depending upon requirements of individuals. Besides, with more than 3000 hospitals in its network, AXA offers health insurance with global standards. Beyond that, the company has a great deal of plans and products for individuals coming from all segments.

Features of AXA Health Insurance Plans

Comprehensive health covers include in and outpatient cover, pre-existing and chronic conditions, treatment expenses and more.
Quick online claim settlements.
Team of professionals offering multilingual customer service round the clock.
It also includes dental coverage.
The plan includes personal accident cover.
Convenient access to over 3000 medical centres and hospitals in the UAE and over 800,000 providers worldwide.
A team of qualified doctors offering teleconsultation in case you require medical advice while going for treatment.
Coverage for illnesses like cancer and related patient support program.
The plan also includes maternity coverage.
Worldwide emergency medical assistance on numerous AXA health insurance plans.

Metlife Health Insurance

With a legacy of over 150 years, Metlife is amongst the world leader in providing health insurance. Moreover, for the past 60 years, it has been offering its world-class health insurance plans to UAE nationals and residents. Metlife health insurance plans cover various medical expenses from regular consultations to emergency services, including diagnostics and preventive care.

Features of Metlife Health Insurance Plans

With Metlife health insurance, you get in and outpatient consultations, medical visits to general doctors, and so on.
The plan also covers emergency medical treatment and hospitalisation expenses.
As a policyholder, you also get maternity services across the network hospital.
Along with preventive medical treatments such as vaccinations and immunisations, you also get prescription drugs expenses and more.
The plan also covers the cost of physiotherapy along withvarious diagnostics and laboratory tests.
The health insurance plans are available to salaried, self-employed and sponsored individuals in the UAE.
Besides affordable plans, you get direct billings across the network of hospitals..
Additionally, it offers an easy online claim process, including a dedicated team of professionals to support you during the claims.

Salama Health Insurance

With a paid-up capital of whopping AED 1.21 billion and over 40 years of experience, Salama Takaful (Islamic Arab Insurance Company) is the largest and the oldest shariah-compliant takaful company globally. In addition, Salama health insurance plans offer direct billing across a network of 4,000 hospitals in the UAE and also provides worldwide medical coverage.

Features of Salama Health Insurance Plans

With Salama health insurance plans, you get in and outpatient services including general consultations, prescriptions, lab tests and more.
Besides worldwide coverage, you get international emergency medical assistance anywhere and at anytime.
The plan offers quick and convenient Medi-Claim Settlements services.
Salama health insurance is flexible and affordable for both individuals as well as dependent family members.
The health plan also includes expenses for intensive and coronary care, hospitalisation in standard private rooms, chemotherapy, organ transplant and home nursing care.
As a policyholder, you can also opt for dental care through Salama health insurance.
It also offers a co-insurance option where the company bears the medical expenses after the deductible is met.

Takaful Emarat Health Insurance

Established in 2008, Takaful Emarat is amongst the fastest emerging shariah-compliant health insurance providers in the UAE. Further, with several medical plans, the company covers individuals from all financial segments. Further, Takaful Emarat medical plans are one of the cheapest health insurance plans in the UAE. Additionally, the company offers quick and convenient online medical claim settlements.

Features of Takaful Emarat Health Insurance

With Takaful Emarat health plans, you get direct billing across a wide network of hospitals across the UAE.
The plan includes various inpatient and outpatientservices across hospitals and health centers in the UAE.
Takaful Emarat provides both regional and worldwide health insurance plans, so you can purchase it depending on your needs.
Depending on your plan, you can also get an yearly coverage of up to AED 1 million.
Along with numerous medical coverage, this plan also offers dental care and treatment expenses.
The medical insurance plans from Takaful Emarat includes prescription drug coverage of up to AED 15,000, up to 20 physiotherapy sessions every year, including dental benefits of up to AED 3,000 every year.
With Takaful Emarat health insurance plan, you can also avail an optional optical coverage of up to AED 1500.

Affordable Health Insurance Plans in the UAE

With numerous companies offering a variety of medical plans in the UAE, it can be hard to find the most affordable health insurance for yourself and your family. Therefore, to ease out your research process, we have compiled a list of affordable health insurance plans in the UAE as mentioned below.

Medical Insurance Plan	Key benefits	Starting Annual Premium Cost
Axa Medical Insurance	Direct billing for in and outpatients within the UAE Maternity cover Pre-existing and chronic conditions, maternity cover	AED 677
Metlife Alico	Inpatient treatment Emergency medical treatment and hospitalisation Maternity cover Lab and diagnostic tests Physiotherapy and prescription drugs Vaccination and immunisations Medical visit to general physicians	AED 761 (for domestic help) AED 1312 (for dependent members)
Oman Insurance	In and outpatient services Emergency service cover Lab test cover Maternity cover	AED 560
Takaful Emarat	Diagnostic Tests In and outpatient services Maternity cover Treatment and surgery cover for non-emergency treatments	AED 525
National Health Insurance Company	In and outpatient services Maternity cover Local medical insurance with worldwide benefit options	AED 615 (for domestic help) AED 800 (for dependents)
RAK Insurance	Emergency medical service and hospitalisations Diagnostic Tests Maternity cover Daycare services Treatment and surgery for non-urgent cases	AED 485
Noor Takaful	In and outpatient services Maternity coverage Diagnostics and laboratory tests Prescription drug coverage for up to AED 1,500 Annual benefits of AED 150,000	AED 550 (for domestic help) AED 751 (for dependents)

Things to Consider While Selecting an Affordable Health Insurance in the UAE

While choosing an affordable health insurance in the UAE, you must ensure the genuinity and reliability of your plan. In addition, there are several factors that you should take into account to have an enhanced coverage along with hassle free claims.

Insurer’s Credibility - While selecting an affordable health insurance in UAE, the foremost factor that you must take into account is that you purchase it from a reliable insurance company. The major reason for checking for the credibility of the insurance company is because companies with a legacy in insurance highly focus on customer’s satisfaction and services.
Coverage Extent - You also need to consider the diversity as well as the variety of coverage options you are getting while purchasing an affordable health insurance plan in the UAE. For example, a good health policy provides medical coverage from an array of health issues ranging from general consultation to life-threatening diseases. Moreover, several insurance companies also offer dental, optical and maternity coverages in their basic plans, so you need to corroborate whether your health policy covers these expenses or not.
Pre-existing and Chronic Conditions - Several insurance providers also offer treatment expenses for pre-existing and chronic health conditions based on their terms and conditions. However, not all insurance companies provide such coverage so while choosing the insurance plan, you should verify in case you require such coverages.
Health Policy Exclusions - Health insurance exclusions are the medical issues that are not covered under the insurance plan. Therefore, while buying an affordable health insurance plan, you need to take various exclusions into account and verify thatyour susceptibility to any disease does not lie into health policy exclusions.
Cost of Health Insurance - When choosing a health insurance plan in the UAE, ofcourse you should consider the insurance cost offered by various insurers and compare diverse insurance plans. Moreover, while comparing the plans, you also need to take the insurance inclusions and exclusions into account.

The Bottom Line

Health care services are expensive and individuals require health insurance plans to meet their medical expenses. Additionally, a health insurance is mandatory for every individual in the UAE. While most UAE residents and nationals receive medical insurance benefits through their employers, a few need to buy it separately. Withal, individuals with low monthly incomes require affordable plans for meeting their medical expenses, so they can refer to the article above while making their decision of buying a health insurance plan in the UAE.