What health insurance costs in the UAE

Three basic plans have published prices: Dubai’s Essential Benefits Plan (EBP), Abu Dhabi’s Basic plan and the northern emirates basic package.

What will you pay for basic cover in Dubai?

Dubai’s EBP is listed at AED 643 to AED 826 per person per year, including the Basmah fee and VAT.¹ The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) sets the band each insurer must price inside: AED 550 to AED 750 per member per year, plus VAT and any other charges.² Each insurer files one rate with DHA and may move AED 25 above or below it.² Insurers collect a Basmah fee of AED 37 per insured member per year and pass it to DHA.³

Only the insurers on DHA’s list may sell the plan to residents earning AED 4,000 or less a month.¹ It has an annual limit of AED 150,000.² What it pays for is set out in the EBP guide.

DHA’s circular of 26 December 2024 says the rates insurers submitted stay fixed for one calendar year from 1 January 2025.⁴ The list does not show a year.¹

The prices are annual. Divided by 12 for comparison only, AED 643 is AED 53.58 a month and AED 826 is AED 68.83 a month.

Ask the insurer to confirm in writing the rate for the year your policy starts.

What have insurers published for a Dubai plan you buy yourself?

Three insurers show a price for their EBP on their own pages, as of 11 November 2026.

Dubai National Insurance shows two prices. Its medical page gives AED 660.⁵ Its separate plan page gives prices starting from AED 535,⁶ which is below the AED 550 floor DHA set in July 2024.² AED 660 plus the AED 37 fee, with 5% VAT on the total, comes to AED 731.85, against the AED 732 DHA lists for the company.¹

Sukoon says its AED 635 is subject to review in line with DHA directives.⁷ Sukoon is the company that was called Oman Insurance Company until its legal name changed, announced on 10 January 2024.⁸

Cigna prices its plan by salary. Its AED 826.25 for people earning less than AED 4,000 a month rounds to the AED 826 on DHA’s list. For people earning more, its yearly rates run from AED 2,187.15 for a man aged 18 to 24 to AED 20,382.60 at age 60 and over, and it says rates may differ depending on maternity status.⁹ Union Insurance shows no price on its plan page and asks you to get a quote.¹⁰ Company pages are in the insurer directory.

Ask the insurer which of its published prices applies to you and what the total is with the fee and VAT.

What will you pay for the Basic plan in Abu Dhabi?

The Abu Dhabi Basic plan costs AED 750 to AED 19,306 per person in 2026, before VAT, depending on your category and age.¹¹ Daman sells the plan to people on an Abu Dhabi visa whose total monthly salary is AED 4,000 with accommodation or AED 5,000 without, and to other categories set by the Department of Health.¹²

A mandatory maternity surcharge of AED 750 is added for married females aged 18 to 50 in every category.¹¹ The plan’s annual cover is AED 250,000.¹³ Daman also lists a Flexi Health plan at AED 750 for all ages for standard risks, with other applicants medically underwritten.¹²

Find your category and age band in the table, add the surcharge if it applies, then read the Abu Dhabi guide for who has to pay.

What will you pay in Sharjah and the other northern emirates?

The basic package for Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah is AED 320 a year.¹⁴ The policy runs for two years.¹⁴

The Basic plan covers up to AED 50,000 for in-patient care and AED 10,000 for out-patient care. The Enhanced plan covers AED 100,000 for both together.¹⁵ Dubai National Insurance lists its own northern emirates plans starting from AED 285, “excluding ICP & VAT”, as of 11 November 2026.⁵

Check which plan your visa needs in the northern emirates guide.

What will you pay for a plan above the basic level?

Ask the insurer for a quote. The insurer prices above are for basic plans only.

Published prices show four things that change what you pay:

• Your age and category. In the Abu Dhabi Basic plan a low-income employee pays AED 997.5 at age 18 to 40 and AED 9,358 at age 60 and over.¹¹
• Sex and marital status. Abu Dhabi adds AED 750 for married females aged 18 to 50.¹¹ Dubai National Insurance prices a female spouse aged 18 to 45 from AED 1,857 against AED 805 for another adult dependant.⁶
• Your salary. Cigna charges AED 826.25 a year if you earn less than AED 4,000 a month and from AED 2,187.15 if you earn more.⁹
• Your health. Cigna’s application asks maternity questions and says the answers “may impact the premium charged”.⁹ Workers Health Insurance prices parents and parents-in-law aged 64 and over by underwriting.¹⁵

Ask each insurer to quote the same plan with and without the option you are weighing, then use the plan comparison guide.

Can your insurer raise your price at renewal?

In Dubai it can, within limits. A renewal premium for an existing member may rise by at most 100% a year for each medically diagnosed condition, and the total may not be more than 100% above the previous premium, whatever the number of conditions.¹⁶ That cap does not apply to low salary band members on the EBP.¹⁶

Prices in a policy that is already running may not be increased, and an insurer needs DHA approval to raise the price of a registered package within a year.¹⁷ The insurer must send a renewal notice at least 30 days before expiry, stating the premium and any changes.¹⁷

Put the renewal notice date in your calendar and ask for quotes from other insurers as soon as it arrives.

The small print

The Dubai price controls are in Article 24(d) of the Implementing Bylaw, which sets the conditions for insurers pricing supplementary cover each year. The renewal notice is in Articles 3(9) and 16(a)(7).¹⁷

Forecasts of medical cost increases are for employer plans. They are not forecasts of what one person will pay. Aon’s 2026 Global Medical Trend Rates Report, a survey of Aon offices that broker or administer employer medical plans, gives the UAE a gross medical trend rate of 11.0% for 2025 and 11.0% for 2026.¹⁸ For the Middle East and Africa as a region, Aon’s 2027 release projects a gross trend falling from 15.3% to 12.2% in 2027.¹⁹ WTW’s 2027 survey of insurers gives the same region 10.1% expected for 2026 and 11.2% projected for 2027.²⁰ Aon asks its own offices and WTW asks insurers.