MedNet UAE

But MedNet UAE is now emerging from the under the shadow of local insurance companies to offer new services such as health tourism to Germany. This summer MedNet UAE launched its dynamic corporate website www.mednet-uae.com that includes an online medical encyclopedia.

Indeed, these are exciting times in the private health insurance sector with regional governments now advancing private health schemes that will eventually cover all expatriates. Where do developments stand now?

'In Saudi Arabia nothing is finalized and we have been waiting for five years,' says general manager Christoph Schult. 'And in the UAE the government has issued a scale of charges, and is gathering reactions from 14 insurance companies. It was 12 months ago that the government said that it wanted to abolish health cards, but nothing is finalized yet'.

However, Mr. Schult is confident that times are changing and that in the current mood of economic reform and privatization that there will be a move to shift the burden of healthcare costs onto the private sector.

'We are more concerned on the practical level,' he says. 'Who will do the administration? How do we allocate costs for different services? Will the charges be high enough to be economic for us?'

At present MedNet UAE has 30 staff looking after around 20,000 members, but the company is preparing for aggressive expansion.
So how does it function at the moment?

'We provide integrated services to insurance companies who want to sell medical insurance products,' explains Mr. Schult. 'We play the role of mediator between insurance companies, medical providers and policy holders.

For insurance companies this means that they benefit from MedNet UAE's global network and its entire IT infrastructure, which is at the heart of this kind of company. While MedNet UAE does not sell policies directly to the public in the Middle East, these are distributed through MedNet UAE's participating insurance companies.

'Our products may be comparable to other companies but our administrative strength is our major asset,' says Mr Schult who has worked for 12 years with Munich Re, MedNet's parent group. 'We believe that like any other business, administrative efficiency is a fundamental base for development'.

The new corporate website www.mednet-uae.com indicates a new marketing drive from MedNet UAE to reach a wider audience, and contains a detailed medical encyclopedia.

'While this is not meant to replace traditional advice from health care professionals, it does make individuals more aware, provides a deeper understanding of ailments and allows them to make more informed decisions,' says Mr. Schult. 'The website even has details of health clubs where MedNet members can get a discount as a reward from us for reducing their health risk'.

Clearly MedNet UAE is positioning itself for aggressive expansion and there will no doubt be more news in the near future from this niche player whose niche is about to get much bigger in the Middle East.