What does this term on your policy mean?

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates each have their own health insurance rules, so the same word can mean different things on policies from different emirates.

What do LSB and non-LSB mean on your policy?

LSB means lower salary band. In Dubai that is an employee with a monthly salary of AED 4,000 or less.¹ Non-LSB means anyone who is not in that band.

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) writes “Non-LSB member”, and its maternity policy calls the same group “Other Workers”, meaning workers “who are not in the low-salary band (LSB) category”.²¹ Neither document uses the abbreviation “NLSB”.

The band decides two things:

• Who can insure you. Only the insurers DHA calls participating insurers may offer health insurance to LSB employees.¹
• The price. DHA sets a price band for the LSB plan, and says any non-LSB member or enhanced product is priced above the top of that band.²

If “NLSB” is printed on your card or policy, ask your insurer to confirm that it means non-LSB. The LSB plan is described in the Essential Benefits Plan (EBP).

What does EBP mean on your policy?

EBP means Essential Benefits Plan. DHA defines it as “the minimal level of health insurance coverage that is provided for the residents of Dubai which is required to meet the minimum benefits of Dubai law”.¹

Its table of benefits is also the minimum standard for any health insurance policy issued in Dubai, and its annual limit is AED 150,000.³ Dubai’s health insurance law uses a different name for the same floor: “Basic Coverage”, the minimum health benefits prescribed for a resident.⁴

The minimum plan in Abu Dhabi and the minimum plan in the northern emirates are both called Basic. They are two different plans. Compare your policy with the EBP table of benefits if your visa is from Dubai.

What do coinsurance, co-payment and deductible mean for your bills?

All three mean the part of a bill that you pay yourself. Which word you see depends on the emirate and the insurer.

Dubai’s law uses one word, co-insurance, for a fixed sum and for a percentage.⁴ Abu Dhabi’s regulation treats co-payment and deductible as one term.⁵ Daman’s wording separates a percentage (co-insurance) from a fixed amount (deductible).⁶

On the EBP your share counts towards the limit. Its annual limit of AED 150,000 includes any coinsurance and deductibles.³

Find the percentage or amount beside each benefit in your table of benefits, and check whether a yearly cap applies to it.

What does a waiting period mean for you?

DHA defines it as “the amount of time an insured must wait before some or all their coverage comes into effect”.¹

The length depends on the plan and the treatment:

• Dubai, pre-existing conditions. Treatment may be excluded for the first 6 months of your first health insurance scheme in the UAE. Emergencies in that time are covered up to the annual limit.³
• Dubai, maternity. An insurer may apply a wait of up to 9 months in the cases DHA lists.¹
• Abu Dhabi, Basic plan. A six-month wait applies to inpatient treatment for a list of conditions, including all delivery cases. It does not apply if you had 6 months of unbroken cover before.⁷
• Northern emirates, WHI Basic Plan. Pre-existing conditions are covered with no waiting period.⁸

Ask your insurer in writing for the date each wait ends. The maternity waits are set out in maternity cover.

What do the other terms on your policy mean?

Table 2 defines each term and names the document the definition comes from.

The Dubai definitions are in Law No. 11 of 2013, DHA’s maternity policy, its table of benefits and its circulars.⁴¹³⁹¹⁰ DHA’s own sites describe ISAHD and eClaimLink.¹¹¹² The Abu Dhabi definitions are in the implementing regulation of Law No. 23 of 2005, Daman’s pages and policy wording, and Thiqa’s page.⁵⁷⁶¹³ The northern emirates entries are from the ministry and Workers Health Insurance.¹⁴⁸¹⁵ Sanadak and CBUAE define their own terms.¹⁶¹⁷

If a term on your policy is not here, ask your insurer for its definition in writing. To check who an insurer is, see the insurers list, and for what to compare between plans see how to compare health insurance.

The small print

• LSB in the member register. DHA’s member register records a salary band for every insured person. Band 1 is a salary of less than AED 4,000 a month, band 2 is AED 4,001 to AED 12,000, band 3 is more than AED 12,000 and band 4 is no salary, used for dependants and children.¹⁸ The maternity policy’s wording is “AED 4,000 or less”.¹
• Participating insurers. DHA’s circular of 26 December 2024 names the participating insurers for 2025.⁹
• Direct billing, reimbursement and pre-authorisation. The entries describe how Daman’s policy wording and the WHI table of benefits use these terms.⁶¹⁵
• Annual limit. DHA’s table prints it as the “annual upper aggregate claims limit”.³
• DHIC. GC 01/2020 is authorised by the chief executive of the Dubai Health Insurance Corporation, and GC 05-2025 is titled as a DHIC issuance.²¹⁰