The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has made it mandatory for all private companies to arrange health insurance for their employees. At the Department of Immigration, various insurance agents offer services for health insurance policies, which is required for visa renewal. This activity has, however, sometimes resulted in having a dual health policy, because in some cases the visa applicant is already insured with their company. There should be some information available in the system whether the concerned employee is insured or requires insurance. In the case of cancelling a policy, a cumbersome exercise is started, because each insurance company has different and lengthy procedure for cancellation. They demand a lot of documents and deduct administration charges, credit card charges and bank charges. According to a survey, a few companies take three to four weeks and some take 100 days for cancellation, which is ridiculous because the Health Insurance Policy is issued instantly. The cancellation requires a lot of documentation work as well as a lot of time and loss of money. The cancellation process should be hassle free and in a quick way.

It is a matter to note that if an individual needs to insure his wife under the same plan, he is forced to pay more than the double premium for his spouse, which is entirely unjustified. It seems that the insurance companies are only minting money instead of fulfilling the prime objective of the health insurance set by DHA.

Most of the insurance companies frequently change network lists containing clinics/hospitals without prior notice due to which many clinics/hospitals do not entertain the card holder despite showing their name in the network. Currently, each and every insurance company is engaged in getting more business. However, it is observed that when these insurance companies are overburdened, they fail to fulfil their commitment for meeting the deadline and issuing the insurance policies on time.

DHA and the concerned authorities should redress these grievances. The law to implement insurance is laudable, as it saves us from financial burdens in an emergency, but insurance companies are playing us.

- The reader is an office manager, based in Dubai.