Changes We’re Making To Health Insurance Policies In The UAE Starting /Renewing On 01 June 2024 Or Later

Introduction

We’re pleased to share with you the changes we’re making to health insurance policies in the UAE starting or renewing from 01 June 2024.

Key changes include:

• Optional higher benefit limits for mental health treatment and well-being
• Revamped co-insurances for outpatient treatment
• Continuing the 16% lifetime discount for new individual policies
• Closing child-only policies to new business

These changes take effect for all existing members with a renewal date of 01 June 2024 or later, and all new members purchasing a health insurance policy with a start date of 01 June 2024 or later. Please note these changes do not apply to members residing outside the UAE.

General changes

We’re continuing the 16% lifetime discount for new individual and family policies

We’re continuing the 16% lifetime discount for all individuals and families purchasing a new health insurance policy. All quotes we issue automatically include this discount.

We’re introducing cancellation fees on group policies

We’ve added a cancellation fee to all group policies. We’ll charge a 10% fee on the ‘unused’ portion of the group’s premium, returning the remaining premium to the group. There’s no change to the way we handle cancellations for individual and family policies; we’ll continue issuing pro rata refunds as per the DHA mandate.

We’re sunsetting child-only health insurance policies

As of 01 June 2024, we’re no longer providing new child-only health insurance policies. Parents can renew existing child-only health insurance policies, but it won’t be possible to add new children onto a child-only insurance policy unless one of the parents also joins the policy as an insured member.

Benefit changes

New optional annual limits for mental health treatment (Elite plans for groups)

On both the Silver and Gold plans, the employer now has the option to increase the annual limit for mental health treatment.

New optional benefit limits for additional preventive health & well-being (Elite plans for groups)

On both the Silver and Gold plans, the employer now has the option to increase the benefit limit for additional preventive health and well-being treatment.

Changes to our policy options

Coverage zones

We’ve introduced two new coverage zones on the Elite plans: local and regional. Previously, we only offered the worldwide coverage zone (also known as Zone 1).

Co-insurances and deductibles

We’re introducing two new co-insurances for outpatient treatment, both of which are available on new policies only. When a member selects a co-insurance for outpatient treatment, they pay 10% or 20% of the cost of all outpatient and pharmacy bills directly to the hospital or clinic. We’ll pay the remaining 90% or 80%. There is a cap of AED75 or AED150 (also known in the UAE as a ‘deductible’) on the cost that the member pays toward each consultation with a doctor (i.e., general physician) or specialist.

The table below shows the new co-insurances, alongside the option for ‘no co-insurance’ by way of comparison.

A small proportion of our members had blanket co-insurance on all outpatient treatment. From their first policy renewal date after 31 May 2024, we’re moving these members to the equivalent new co-insurances with caps on the cost of consultations. We’re sunsetting the old, blanket outpatient co-insurances.

Changes to our pricing

We do an annual review of the performance of our portfolio of members and groups in the UAE. In previous years, we published a percentage figure for average premium inflation. We’re not publishing such a figure this year. That’s not because premium inflation is particularly high this year and we’re trying to hide it. Rather, publishing a single, average figure for all members in the UAE has caused a great deal of confusion in years gone by. As our pricing model has become more and more complex, it’s no longer feasible to publish a single, average figure for premium inflation in the UAE.

We can say that we’re anticipating double digit inflation from our competitors. We anticipate that the William Russell product will become more competitive in the market over the course of the next 12 months, and that we remain committed to growing our portfolio in the UAE and across the Middle East.

Changes to terms & conditions in the plan agreements

We’ve changed, added, or removed the following terms & conditions in the plan agreement for new and renewing policies.

We’re using the term ‘coverage zone’ instead of ‘area of cover’

Previously, we used the term ‘area of cover’ to describe the geographical limits of a member’s cover under their plan. We’re now using the term ‘coverage zone’.

We’re using the term ‘policy year’ instead of ‘period of cover’

Previously, we used the term ‘period of cover’ to describe the 12-month duration of a member’s health insurance policy. We’re now using the term ‘policy year’.

We’re using the term ‘member’ instead of ‘insured person’

Previously, we used the term ‘insured person’ to describe people insured on a health insurance policy. We’re now using the term ‘member’.

Update to definition of country of residence

We’ve updated the definition for ‘country of residence’ to give us scope to reclassify a member’s country of residence to the country where they regularly receive medical treatment. We’ll use this reclassified country of residence to calculate renewal premiums.

The above changes apply to residents of the UAE whose health insurance policy starts or renews on or after 01 June 2024. Our article about our new health insurance products for residents outside the UAE is available on our blog.