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Dubai Minimum Floor

Dubai Essential Benefits Plan (EBP) Explained

What the minimum package is for, who it applies to, and what to check on the schedule.

The Essential Benefits Plan is Dubai’s minimum health insurance package. It is the floor an employer must meet for lower-salary staff under the Dubai Health Authority framework, with a capped annual limit and a restricted provider network. EBP is a compliance baseline, not a recommendation, and not a promise that a particular hospital is covered.

Written and reviewed by , Assistant Vice President - Employee Benefits Insurance

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What Is the Essential Benefits Plan?

A regulated minimum package, defined by the Dubai Health Authority.

Dubai made health insurance compulsory under Law No. 11 of 2013, phased in for employers between 2014 and 2016. The Essential Benefits Plan is the regulated minimum product created alongside it: a defined package of inpatient, outpatient, maternity and emergency benefits that a compliant policy cannot fall below for the staff it applies to.

  • It is a floor, not a plan recommendation

    Every approved insurer sells its own EBP-compliant product, and they are not identical in service or network.

  • It carries an annual cap

    Publicly reported at AED 150,000 per person per year, with sub-limits inside it. Confirm the current figure on the schedule of benefits rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

  • The network is restricted

    EBP-tier products use a limited provider list, with outpatient care typically directed to clinics rather than large private hospitals.

  • The employer pays

    The premium for a sponsored employee’s mandatory cover is not deducted from salary.

Who Does EBP Apply To?

A salary threshold decides which staff sit on the floor.

EBP was designed for lower-income workers sponsored in Dubai. The commonly reported threshold is a monthly salary at or below AED 4,000, and it is the reason a single company often runs two very different plans: an EBP-tier product for one group of staff and a richer plan for another.

  • Employees under the threshold

    must be covered at least to the essential floor.

  • Employees above it

    still need compliant cover, but the employer chooses the benefit level above the minimum.

  • Dependants

    of a sponsored resident are the sponsor’s responsibility in Dubai unless the employer offers family cover as a benefit.

  • Free-zone staff in Dubai

    sit inside the same DHA framework as mainland staff. Free-zone employee cover

Thresholds and package contents are set by the regulator and change over time. Verify the current position with the Dubai Health Authority before you design around it.

Does EBP Cover Every Hospital in Dubai?

No, and this is where most of the confusion starts.

No

An EBP-tier product buys access to a restricted network, and that network is the single biggest difference an employee will notice. A plan can be fully compliant and still exclude the hospital nearest to the employee’s home.

  • 01
    Not a guarantee of your preferred hospital, or of cashless treatment at it.
  • 02
    Not a fixed public price this site can quote, and not a product this site sells.
  • 03
    Not a substitute for reading the schedule of benefits and the exclusions list.
  • 04
    Not the same as the minimum in Abu Dhabi or the Workers Health Insurance scheme used in the Northern Emirates.

What Employers Should Verify on the Schedule

Ask these before treating a brochure as compliant.

  1. 01
    Does this product meet the current Dubai minimum for the specific employee category, in writing from the insurer?
  2. 02
    Which providers are in network for outpatient and for inpatient, and under which payment mode?
  3. 03
    How do the co-pay, the annual limit and the sub-limits interact in a normal year of use?
  4. 04
    Which services need pre-authorization, and who submits it?
  5. 05
    What happens to the employee’s cover, and to their visa file, if the policy lapses at renewal?
  6. 06
    How are new joiners added mid-year, and from which date does their cover start?

What this page will not do.

It does not confirm that a specific product is compliant, quote a premium, or arrange cover. Those answers come from the insurer, a licensed broker, or the Dubai Health Authority.

Can an Employee Be Covered Above the Floor?

Yes, and the choice is usually about network, not headline limits.

Employers routinely buy above the minimum, and residents often top up their own cover. When you compare an upgrade, the useful questions are rarely about the annual limit, which is already generous relative to typical claims. They are about access and friction.

  • Network tier

    Which hospitals move in and out of scope at each tier, and at what co-pay?

  • Maternity and chronic care

    Waiting periods, sub-limits, and whether ongoing conditions are covered from day one.

  • Pre-authorization friction

    How often approval is needed, and how quickly it is turned around.

  • Renewal behaviour

    What happened to the premium and the network on the same product last year.

The Dubai Essential Benefits Plan floor compared with a plan above it

  • Who it is designed for
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    Employees under the salary threshold the Dubai Health Authority sets for the minimum package
    A plan above the floor
    Staff the employer chooses to place on a wider plan, at any salary

  • Network
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    A restricted list of participating providers, which is the defining constraint rather than the limits
    A plan above the floor
    Broader, and the main reason employers upgrade

  • Annual limit
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    The regulated minimum for the package
    A plan above the floor
    Set commercially, above the minimum

  • Sub-limits and co-payment
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    Defined by the package, and applied strictly
    A plan above the floor
    Negotiated as part of plan design

  • Maternity
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    Included at package level, with its own caps and waiting periods
    A plan above the floor
    Usually higher caps and a wider choice of provider

  • Dental and optical
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    Generally outside the package
    A plan above the floor
    Optional, and typically sub-limited

  • Who sets it
    Essential Benefits Plan (the floor)
    The Dubai Health Authority, which publishes the package contents
    A plan above the floor
    The employer, within what the insurer will underwrite

Read it network first and limits second. Employees rarely notice an annual limit; they notice the day the hospital they expected to use is not on the list. Ask for both network lists side by side before comparing headline figures.

Use the choose-health-insurance checklist to structure the comparison, and network and TPA basics to read a provider list properly.

Deep Guides

Read the Full Guides

Neighbouring topics that change the answer.

Trade articles sometimes quote AED ranges for basic Dubai packages. Treat those as reported market context, dated by their source, never as a quotation from this site.

Verify

Sources & Official References

Package contents, thresholds and limits are set by the regulator, not by this page.

Any figure quoted above is publicly reported context and is dated by its source. The Dubai Health Authority publishes the current Essential Benefits Plan definition and the list of approved insurers.

Rules, limits and premiums change. Verify on the official page before acting, and treat any figure quoted on this site as reported context rather than a price offered here.

Reviewing a Dubai Plan Against the Floor?

Bring the schedule of benefits and the network list. Guidance only.

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

It is the regulated minimum health insurance package under Dubai’s mandatory cover framework, introduced with Law No. 11 of 2013. Every approved insurer sells its own EBP-compliant product, so the floor is identical but the service and network are not.

It was designed for lower-income sponsored workers in Dubai, with a monthly salary threshold commonly reported at AED 4,000. Staff above the threshold still need compliant cover, but the employer chooses the benefit level above the minimum.

No. EBP-tier products use a restricted provider list, and outpatient care is typically directed to clinics rather than large private hospitals. Confirm the specific facilities you need before you sign.

No. Abu Dhabi runs its own framework under the Department of Health, and the Northern Emirates commonly use the Workers Health Insurance scheme. Do not carry a Dubai plan design across an emirate border without checking. Abu Dhabi vs Dubai rules

Yes. Employers regularly buy above the minimum and residents top up their own cover. The difference that matters day to day is the provider network and the co-pay, not the headline annual limit.