Expats have long suspected they have paid too much for private health care in Dubai – and now the government has finally admitted they are right.
An investigation has revealed that expats are told they suffer from conditions they do not have, pay for treatments they do not need and are kept in hospital for longer than they should.
All this adds thousands of pounds to their medical bills – with a private health insurer often picking up the inflated tab.
The fraud and fee manipulation is so rife, the government plans to put a regulator in place to monitor private healthcare.
To try to deflect some attention, the Dubai government has pointed out that other countries are to blame for out-of-control medical costs.
Fraudulent claims
Dubai Health Authority director Dr Haider Saeed al Yousuf explained the regulator will police all private medical facilities in the emirate.
“Doctors have made patients stay in hospital for longer than necessary,” he said. “This applies to intensive care and private rooms.
“We must protect health insurers from this malpractice as private health care cover is mandatory for all expats in Dubai. Insurers and expats will welcome the proposal as the regulator will keep costs down for everyone and make cover more affordable.”
Dr al Yousuf alleged fraudulent private health care claims are made all over the world and have led providers to up their premiums by at least 10%.
The countries with the worst record are those with the largest expat communities – many of which are in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
The Dubai government admitted fraudulent private medical health care claims are made discovered every day by insurers in a scam that is worth billions of pounds worldwide.
Bogus hospital and doctors
A recent survey in the US by healthcare firm Truven revealed around $175 billion a year was paid out to fraudsters.
The main rackets involve claiming for prescriptions that are never filled, over prescribing drugs and treatments and ordering scans and tests that are never run.
In some cases, organised gangs posing as hospital consultants have tried to infiltrate health insurance groups to make massive false claims.
Health insurer InterGlobal confirmed the Dubai government findings. The firm operates across the Gulf and Asia.
“We investigate fraud every day,” said a spokesman “In one case a criminal gang made bogus claims over a decade for from a hospital that did not exist and had a staff of phoney consultants signing off treatments and prescriptions.”
