Daman National Health Insurance has now acquired its two millionth client

Daman National Health Insurance in Abu Dhabi has reached an important milestone just five years after it was established: this first private health insurer in Abu Dhabi, operated by Munich Re on behalf of the emirates government, has now acquired its two millionth client in the United Arabic Emirates.

Daman exemplifies the factors that will drive the global health market in the coming years: not traditional models of pure risk assumption; but the provision of solutions-oriented services and management instead. Munich Re’s integrated approach, with its own specially created business field Munich Health - that since 2009 forms the third business segment of the Group (alongside primary and reinsurance) - with its 5,000+ staff in 26 locations worldwide, is tapping into this trend.

Daman offers three products: state-subsidised basic healthcare for foreign workers in the lower income brackets, a more extensive private comprehensive cover, and the health insurance programme “Thiqa” for the local population.

The comprehensive health cover in particular is comparable to German private health insurance products, offering, for example, care in private clinics and some treatment abroad. It is available to all foreign workers (“expats”) with a monthly income of over €900. The annual renewal rates are of over 90%. Munich Health, which owns 20 percent of Daman National, carries the reinsurance risk for this product, and is thus involved in both primary insurance and reinsurance.

Daman’s success has not gone unnoticed in other countries of the region, which have expressed a keen interest in this business concept. For example, Munich Health is currently engaged in the licensing process to establish a health insurer in Saudi Arabia, drawing on its experience gained with Daman.