News
Govt Medical Policy Costs Rise To Curb Misuse
| March 23, 2010 by Rob Morris
Dubai and Abu Dhabi increases medical fees for state-launched policies to prevent patients from making false claims.
Health insurance holders covered by an Abu Dhabi government policy will now have to pay 50% towards medicine and treatment following cases of alleged misuse, it was reported on Tuesday.
Medical officials in the UAE capital and Dubai said that some patients insured under state-launched policies were using their medical cards to claim medicines for illnesses they did not have.
In response to the false claims, Abu Dhabi government has passed on half the costs of treatment to people insured under the Daman scheme.
A similar measure has been introduced for Dubai government’s Enaya scheme, where holders used to pay AED25-50 for treatment. They will now have to pay 20% of the costs, with the remaining 80% covered by the insurance provider, according to Business 24/7.
“This is an insurance card and not a pass,” said Dr Haidar Saeed Al Yousuf, director of health funding at Dubai Health Authority, told the paper. “Unfortunately, some people use it as an open pass and try to get medicines they do not need. If the process is unregulated you will always find some level of misuse.”
Yousuf added that employers in Dubai often made changes to insurance schemes to improve efficiency.
Private insurance companies such as AXA and Oman Insurance generally charge patients AED50 for treatments and medicines every time they visit a doctor.
