Children Health Insurance

Having children in your home creates a completely different kind of atmosphere filled with excitement and fun. But as fun, as it is to play with kids and just enjoy your life, it is equally hard to take appropriate steps to ensure their well-being at all times. From proper education to holistic growth, every step should be planned carefully. One of these steps is healthcare for children. A child’s health insurance dubai is as important as having health insurance for senior citizens. Old age makes the body and the immune system weak. Similarly, the immune system of children stays under development after their birth. So, from birth to at least the initial few years of puberty, children need special care and attention which is exactly what health insurance for kids is designed for.

Reasons to Invest in Health Insurance for Kids

Given below is a list of top reasons why you should buy health insurance for kids and top ways in which it can be helpful to ensure their well-being:

Developing Immune System

The immune system of children is still developing till they are in their mid-teen years. This simply means that your child is more susceptible to catch illnesses as compared to adults or middle-aged people. This vulnerability makes it important to have a backup plan to tackle any unforeseen illnesses.

Slow Reflexes

Children have comparatively slower reflexes and lack the sensing danger. This makes them highly prone to accidents and collisions. Just like the immune system, these reflexes to be wary of the potential danger of being in an accident in everyday life develops slowly.

Increased Risk of Health Issues

Developing children are exposed to the outside environment just so that their immune systems can get used to the change. However, these activities exposing them to the outer elements also often result in an increased risk of health problems in children. These ailments can occur in the form of food allergic reactions, pollen allergies or dust allergies, becoming asthmatic, skin ailments, etc.

Preventive Measures

Medical insurance for kids is not just about having a backup plan to cover for the times when children fall ill. It is also a form of preventive measure which ensures that any unfortunate events stay at bay from the beginning.

Types of Medical Insurance for Kids

Family Health Insurance Plans: The most common and preferred type of health insurance for kids is the family health insurance plan. Family health insurance plans available in the UAE offer the option of dependent insurance. The policyholder can add their family members as dependents in the medical insurance plan and extend the coverage to include them. Some employer-provided health insurance plans also come with an option to add up to 3 children and 1 spouse as dependents free of cost.

Children Only Medical Insurance Plans: Albeit rare, some insurance providers may offer children-only health insurance plans as well. As evident, these insurance plans are designed to cover only the child individually and not combined under a single plan with parents. The benefits offered in these plans are pretty much the same as those offered in any individual or family insurance plan available in the UAE.

Rules Related to Child Health Insurance in the UAE

The governments of UAE, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi have established some ground rules when it comes to medical insurance for kids and dependents provided by employers. This includes the mandatory benefits, age of getting the insurance and more. Following are the basic guideline set by the insurance governing authorities:

Abu Dhabi: The employers and sponsors must provide at least an essential benefits plan to all the employees and their dependents in Abu Dhabi. The employees can choose to add one spouse and three children up to the age of 18 as dependents in their group insurance plan. If the employee has more than three children, they can include the next child in line once an already included child turns 18 and is not covered as dependent by the plan.

Dubai: The mandatory health insurance laws in Dubai state that employers are required to provide health insurance for their employees but not the dependents. However, the sponsors are responsible to provide health insurance for their dependents.

The Rest of the Emirates: All the other remaining emirates do not have any mandated health insurance laws for dependents or employees. The employers and sponsors are not obligated in any way to offer basic or otherwise medical insurance to their employees and dependents.

Employer-provided health insurance aside, newborn children are included in infant care plans of maternity covers with mother for 30 days after their birth. After the infant care ends, the child can be included in an existing personal healthcare plan with the parents immediately.

Common Inclusions of Health Insurance for Kids

Whether family or individual, most health insurances for kids come with a pre-decided list of common inclusions and benefits. Following are the benefits your child will be covered for when under the protection of medical insurance plans:

• Hospitalization Costs
• Pre-and Post-hospitalisation Benefits
• Emergency medical treatment benefits
• Day Care Procedures
• Pre-existing Diseases Cover
• Vaccination Cover – often available as an add-on too
• Rehabilitation therapy
• Dental insurance – available as an add-on cover mostly
• Consultations with pediatricians
• Critical illness cover – also available as stand-alone health insurance for kids
• Out-patient benefits

Apart from these basic benefits, if the health insurance plan you have chosen for your children is a family floater plan, they will receive all the basic benefits specified in that plan. The range of benefits in a family floater plan is extended to all the dependents listed by the policyholder.

Eligibility Criteria

Every child in the UAE is eligible to be insured by a medical insurance plan right after birth. Parents can add their children to their group health insurance or personal family health insurance plan as dependents even before they are born. If parents have not included the child before its birth as a dependant, they can do so after their birth as well. This applies to both group and personal medical insurance plans with dependant options.

All children added to personal health insurance plans as dependants can stay under the plan till 26 years of age. Children added as dependants in group health insurance plans can stay included till 18 years of age. Some insurance companies may provide separate individual medical insurance for kids. The eligibility criteria may differ as per age in this case and shall be confirmed with the insurance provider concerned.

Things to Remember When Buying Child Health Insurance

Ideal Coverage: If you plan to include your child in a family health insurance plan, make sure that the coverage you take is also customized to satisfy all the needs of your child. If the basic benefits of your family medical insurance plan do not include paediatrician visits and consultations, consider getting an add on for it. The same goes for benefits like vaccination and dental cover. You can choose these benefits as per the changing needs of your child instead of piling all of them in one go. For example, consider getting a vaccination cover for the early years of the cover when infants get vaccinated and drop it when they are older.

Age: Parents can add their children as dependants in their medical insurance plans even before their birth. The coverage starts as soon as the child is born. As per the new guidelines set by DHA, all personal insurance providers are to provide complete health benefits to a newborn child added to an existing plan without waiting periods. Parents can keep their children included in a family healthcare plan till the age of 26 years.

Network Medical Units: Make sure that the medical insurance for kids that you plan to take has plenty of childcare units in their network. If the networks hospitals of the plan only include basic treatment units and not child care facilities, it can be hard to find a proper hospital when in need.

Examine the Assured Sum: make sure that the total assured sum of the medical insurance for kids that you have is sufficient. The same goes for the separate limits that are set on each kind of benefit in the plan.

Be Prepared for the Unexpected: It may be a seldom occurrence to face something completely unexpected health-related emergency in your adulthood. But the case with children is never the same. The dynamic nature of their everyday schedule demands it from the parents to be prepared for all highly unexpected but probable situations. So, make sure that your health insurance for kids covers all those scenarios ideally while staying under budget.

Always Compare: It is no secret that you will have a bountiful of options when it comes to finding health insurance for kids in Dubai. So, make sure that you properly compare different plans and providers before deciding on one.

Conclusion

Health insurance for kids in the UAE is one of the most important things to look out for every parent. Not only it is mandatory to have child health insurance, but it is also a good strategy to go with them. From being a newborn baby to being a teenager in their mid-teen years, children’s bodies go through several changes and require proper healthcare. medical insurance for kids can offer the same type and quality of protection their growing bodies need. Just make sure that the health insurance plan that you have for your child is all-inclusive as per their needs.