Dubai, Jun 25 (Emirates 247): The city's SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Neuron Inc. – a provider of health insurance solutions – and Nasco France, an insurance and reinsurance brokerage in the Middle East and North Africa, to enable businesses registered in Dubai to provide competitive health insurance packages for their employees.

The MoU has been signed in the backdrop of the Dubai Health Insurance Law No. 11 of 2013. As per the law, which came into effect on the January 1, 2014, health insurance would be mandatory for every citizen, resident and visitor in Dubai by the end of June 2016.

The MoU was signed by Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME; Mohammed Al Mutaiwee, Chairman, Neuron, and Gabriel Bejjani, CEO, Nasco France.

“This partnership initiative is also prompted by the findings in the ‘State of SMEs in Dubai 2014’ report. The report showed that most of the SME employees in Dubai did not have any insurance coverage. We decided to ring in a change through offering competitive health insurance packages, not only for SMEs but also for all businesses registered in Dubai,” said Al Janahi.

He added that competitive health insurance packages become all the more important in view of the increasing number of business license renewals in Dubai. By September 2016, the number of renewals are expected to cross 10,000, and together these businesses will have an employee count of 127,000.

“The MoU underlines the focus of the government of Dubai in safeguarding the health of the workforce in the public and private sectors in the emirate. We chose Neuron in light of its expertise in providing a range of comprehensive and outstanding health insurance packages as well as its experience in serving employees in the government of Dubai and their families under the ‘Enaya’ health insurance,” said Al Janahi.

“Under the partnership Nasco France will identify the approved primary insurance companies in the UAE to ensure the provision of the required insurance plans,” Al Janahi added.

As part of the partnership, Neuron will provide insurance services and claims management on an exclusive basis for Dubai SME, including insurance packages compatible with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) regulations. The company will also maintain a database of registered members and issue identity card-based allocation (upon request) and information packs on the terms and conditions to members.