Disability insurance: A helpless situation

Dubai residents have until the end of the year to get compulsory health insurance cover for themselves and families. In an in depth 5-part series, Khaleej Times explains the mandatory scheme and the different options available. In this fourth part, we des

While Dubai’s mandatory insurance roll-out process is proceeding smoothly despite initial teething issues, a special segment of society have voiced their concern, saying they are not being covered enough under the scheme.

British resident Francesca R.J., mother of three children — one of them an autistic boy — said she was denied medical insurance while pregnant with her fourth child, as the insurance company found out he would be born with Down Syndrome (DS).

“Due to my age factor, I underwent precautionary tests during pregnancy and discovered that the baby I was carrying had DS, and I was concerned,” Francesca told Khaleej Times.

“But when I approached insurance companies, I was told that they could not provide him insurance cover other than the basic one,” she said. “Immediately after birth, the child is covered for one month as part of the mother’s insurance cover, I was told by the company,” she added. “I had to fight with them on this issue, saying they couldn’t have foreseen the problem before birth… so how could they refuse insurance?”

However, tragically, the baby had a foetal death before birth. Francesca, who is also a manager at a special needs centre, said the coverage provided to children and adults with special needs was far from adequate. “We are talking about people here who earn less, but have to pay more to receive proper treatment,” she said.

Francesca also said that she had to struggle to deliver her dead child. “Private hospitals did not have the facilities I required, and I chose a government hospital.

“But the government hospital would not accept my private insurance, so I had to cover the costs out of my own pocket,” explained Francesca. Her elder autistic child is being cared for back in Britain.

If her child had been born with DS, his surgery would have cost at least Dh100,000. “I was already anticipating expenses and wondering how I would manage,” she said.

Resident in Dubai for the past six years, Francesca is of the view that basic needs for special needs children and adults should be covered by insurance. She said her centre has lots of overheads and despite keeping the services at the lowest, the costs are very high. “We are barely breaking even.

“It is only privileged people who get access to quality services, but disability does not discriminate,” she said.

Even for those paying high premiums, not all treatments are covered. “Some patients may need more therapy sessions, but the company covers only limited ones based on the medical condition,” she said.

“I appeal to the government to make insurance cover and premiums for special needs affordable and also available at the earliest stage of the disability,” she said.