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MoH health card more beneficial

An expatriate gets more free and subsidised health benefits from a health card issued by the UAE Ministry of Health than from health cards issued by the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services.

What few Dubai residents know is that they can apply for either an MoH or a Dohms health card when their visa comes up for renewal.

In fact, there is nothing to stop current Dohms health card holders from applying for the more beneficial MoH health card even before their Dohms cards expire.

Now that charges for maternity and dental services at the Dohms are not much lower than most affordable private hospitals in the country, many expatriates are looking for affordable private health insurance.

Before the year ends, however, MoH officials say the ministry plans to swap its health card system for a national health insurance scheme administered by a national health insurance authority.

Dr Abdel Ghaffar Abdel Ghafour, Assistant Under-Secretary for Curative Medicine at the MoH, told Khaleej Times that in-patient services at MoH hospitals for MoH health card holders are completely free of charge. However, the situation is not the same at Dohms hospitals.

"Among the benefits of a health card issued by the MoH is that consultation with a specialist would only cost Dh20, while for those who do not have health cards, it would cost Dh95. Consultation with a senior consultant would cost Dh200 at MoH hospitals for those who do not have health cards, while health card holders need to pay only Dh50," Dr Abdel Ghaffar said.

He said that in Dubai the only MoH hospital, apart from Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital, is Al Baraha hospital, which he added was not adequate to handle a large number of patients in Dubai on its own.

The Dohms picks up a lot of the slack, since it depends on a large network of primary health care centres, as well as three main hospitals: Rashid Hospital, Dubai Hospital and Al Wasl Hospital.

Dr Abdel Ghaffar said that the MoH had signed an agreement with private insurance firms by which national health insurance packages would be provided to all UAE residents, citizens and expatriates, at a reasonable cost. "Our job at the ministry is to control health insurers and make sure they do not raise premiums unreasonably, but we do not have the authority to force employers to pay for their employees' health insurance.

"Expatriate employees should make sure that health benefits are included in their employment contract before they come to work in the UAE. That is the only way they can guarantee free health coverage," Dr Abdel Ghaffar said.

He said that the national health insurance scheme would cover medical treatment for beneficiaries at all public hospitals and clinics.

The annual premium for the basic health insurance package comes to Dh700. This annual premium payment is expected to replace the need for renewal of health cards whenever expatriates renew their employment visas. Currently, annual health card renewal costs Dh300.

Dr Abdel Ghaffar said that a slightly higher premium of Dh1,300 would pay for a higher end health insurance package that would cover maternity services, while a package costing Dh1,400 annually would cover dental services as well. Holders of these public health insurance cards will be able to avail of free medical services at all MoH hospitals and clinics. Al Baraha Hospital was established in January 1999, replacing the older Kuwait Hospital.

Al Baraha has a bed capacity of 223, and offers a wide range of services. Medical services include surgery, gynaecology, urology, cardiology, orthopaedic, pediatrics, ENT, dermatology, physiotherapy, neurosurgery, ophthalmology and emergency medicine.

A basic requirement to benefit from the medical services at MoH hospitals and facilities is to have a valid MoH health card.

Applicants can obtain an MoH health card from the nearest health centre or the Health Card Section at the MoH building in Karama, Bur Dubai.

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