A new options under the Basmah initiative will see Dubai expats with a basic insurance package get unlimited coverage for three types of cancer treatments as well as Hepatitis C starting from January 2019, according to a top official at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

Holders of the Essential Benefit Plan (EBP) will have AED 19 deducted per health insurance policy and put into the DHA’s trust account to cover costs of cancer treatment for Low Salary Band (LSB) workers, Saleh Al Hashemi, adviser to the recently formed Dubai Health Insurance Corporation at DHA told Gulf News.

The fund will be used for patients with cervical, colorectal and breast cancer, who have exceeded the insured treatment sum.

Holders of EBPs had previously been charged a basic index rate of AED 550. The average total limit of expenditure under the plan is AED 150,000 for various treatments with sub limits. However, the selected cancer treatments will not have a sub limit in 2019, Al Hashemi said, adding that patients with the plans will also get free cancer screening.

Around 21 cancer patients are currently being treated for free as part of a collaboration with several pharmaceutical companies at Dubai Hospital in order to pilot the new change.

The DHA will adopt a similar initiative for the screening and treatment of Hepatitis C during the first quarter of 2019. The move is in line with the World Health Organisation goal of eliminating the Hepatitis C virus by 2030.

It will also introduce the ‘Pay per Performance’ (PPP) system for patients with lung cancer, by collaborating with a partner company that provides approved lung cancer treatment. If it is not effective in a stipulated time period, the partner will then refund the costs incurred by the patient.