Medical health insurance policies issued for the current year show a price increase of between 5 and 10% in general, according to insurance industry executives.
The secretary general of the Emirates Insurance Association, Mr Fareed Lutfi, said that many factors play a role when renewing medical insurance policies, including new technology and general inflation, but increases associated with previous claims or the performance of each portfolio remain the basis for determining insurance rates, according to a report in Al Roeya.

Mr Lutfi pointed out that the increases, in general, ranged between 5% and 10%, and might be due to customers who caused high losses in the past year. He indicated that insurance companies are more inclined to keep premium rates stable for large corporate groups. Competition has also helped to keep premium rate increases low.
Meanwhile, a number of corporate customers have sought to lower personnel costs by seeking new insurance policies with reduced benefits and by opting for regional rather than international insurance coverage.
Healthcare costs
Mr Nabil Al Shanawani, assistant general manager of Life & Medical at Al Buhaira National Insurance, stated that most hospitals and medical service providers have not requested price increases for medical treatment this year.

Another senior insurance executive says that between 2% to 3% of all hospitals and clinics have requested price increases because of the cost of healthcare, pointing out that the increases requested do not exceed 5%. He stated that insurance companies deal with each case separately and consider whether the increases requested by service providers make sense.
In his turn, Mr Saeed Al Mehairi, founding chairman of United Gulf Insurance Brokers, stated that insurance companies started 2021 with an increase in compensation payouts related to COVID-19. But he indicated that, in general, the pandemic has not primarily affected the rise in insurance costs. Previous claims and the volume of losses incurred forms the main factor affecting premium rates.
Insurance executives told Emirates Today that the costs announced by the UAE Insurance Authority regarding COVID-19 related health insurance claims that were paid by companies are still within the scope of “the acceptable”. The annual report on the UAE insurance sector showed that insurers paid COVID-19 related claims totalling about AED350m ($95.3m) until the end of June 2020.