[numba1]

Hi,

I just wanted to know if there any Type 1s on this forum living in dubai. If so, I'd like to know what the costs are for insulin, alcohol swabs, check-ups, etc. Also, does anyone know of any insurance companies that does cover existing diseases and/or conditions. To my knowledge, most of the health insurance providers dont cover pre-existing conditions.

My fiancee (who's T1) is moving here soon so I'd ljust like to get an idea of how much it would cost so that I can budget for it. I checked out the prices for Lantus & Novorapid and they didnt seem to be cheap so if anyone has some suggestions, would be highly appreciated.

[davef]

We have a member living in the UAE, so he may be able to offer some indication. He is not online at the moment but I'm sure he will chime in when he logs on.

[DeusXM]

I've had T1 for the last 10 years and have lived in Dubai for the last year or so.

Firstly, the bad news. Having diabetes in Dubai is not cheap. I'm from the UK so I'm used to everything being free. Coming here was a big, big shock to the system.

The vast majority of insurance policies will not cover pre-existing conditions. However, many companies provide health insurance as part of the employment package, in fact I think it may in fact be the law that they have to do so now. Insurance through your employer tends to be more accommodating of pre-existing conditions.

If your fiancee receives a job offer she should have it confirmed in writing that the policy provided by the company covers pre-existing conditions, and the annual extent of the coverage.

If she can get this insurance, this will greatly simplify the matter. However, insurance, no matter how you get it, will almost certainly not cover the following:

Test strips
Syringes
Needles
Insulin pens
Pumps

In my experience, insurance tends to only cover the insulin (but not a way to actually get it into you), and should cover the most part of your doctor's expenses.

Prices work out around the following:

One-touch Ultra Test strips - AED 140
Pen needles (box of 300) - AED 70
Novorapid 3ml carts x5 - AED 190
Lantus 3ml carts x5 - AED 400

You can buy insulin and test strips over the counter, but if you do so, you will not be able to claim the insulin back on your insurance. To be able to claim insulin back on your insurance, you need to get a new prescription each time from a doctor. Mine charges AED 450 for me to walk into the same room as him. An A1C costs a similar amount.

in my case, I see a doctor every three months in order to renew my prescription. So the visit costs me AED 900. Then I usually get 4 boxes of each insulin, so that's 2360 for the insulin. I then usually buy one box of test strips a week, so over three month that's AED 1680.

Therefore, in a 3 month period, BEFORE I claim back on insurance, I need to spend around AED 4000. Call it AED 1350. That's about US$370 a month.

On my insurance, I'm obliged to pay the first 100 of each item - so the complete set of insulin ultimately costs me 200, as does the visit and the A1C. So that's a final total expenditure over 3 months of AED 2080 (remember, test strips aren't covered), or AED 700, or US$190 a month.

There's an example of what it costs for a T1 to stay alive in Dubai. This doesn't include any extras. I also attend the American Hospital in Dubai since it's a diabetes centre of excellence, which means its visit and test fees may be slightly higher than other places. Prescription prices, however, are fixed.

Your fiancee's best bet is to score a job that offers health insurance that covers pre-existing conditions, OR score a job that gives you a combined income of at least AED 25,000 a month - otherwise it is simply too expensive to rent a flat, run a car, treat T1 and have a lifestyle comparable to one you'd have in the West. Finding a job with the right health insurance isn't actually that tricky and generally any company that is Western in origin should provide this. They should also provide better salaries.

Having said all that...

My partner and I live in a large 1 bed apartment on a marina, a 2 minute walk away from the beach and we drive a convertible. Neither of us are big earners by most Westerner-in-Dubai standards. Having health insurance that broadly covers me helps us to do this. So despite the gloomy picture I may have painted, in the meantime I'm sticking with it here.

Flying back to the UK and stocking up with 6 months' worth of free supplies twice a year also helps.

[numba1]

Thanks for the response. It was quite detailed so much appreciated Unfortunately, she's not covered under any insurance policy at the moment so I'll prob budget my expenses without insurance (which is gonna take a big chunk out of my meagre salary)

Anyway, one more thing. Are the docs competent here? I'm an old-timer (been living here since the past 29 years) and I dont have a good opinion of the docs here. Most of the ppl I know usually fly west (if they can afford it) for any major treatment. So, since u've been to the American Hospital, how wud u rate them vis a vis the UK

[DeusXM]

Anyway, one more thing. Are the docs competent here?

They're alright at the AHD. I wouldn't call them 'great' but they're reasonable. You do have to ask for pretty much anything though so depending on how proactive your fiancee is, she might find she needs to start looking out for herself a lot more instead of expecting doctors to help.

Generally the docs are reasonably clued up about diabetes (after all, a quarter of the population has it) but you'll have to ask.

I'd certainly fly back home for any major treatment, like surgery, but only because it would work out cheaper for me to do so.

[mwd]

I live in Dubai too. Have lived here for 7 years now.

I have Oman Insurence thu my dh's work which covers my insulin and other medication. I need to only pay 50dh for a docter's/endo's consultation which would cost 350+ w/o insurence and it covers all my tests. I have to pay myself for test strips.

The first few years we were here i paid myself for my insulin and other D related stuff and was covered for other non-D medications etc. Then during my pregnancy and birth of my daughter, we paid for everything ourselves.

[numba1]

Thanks for the info...I'm of the opinion as well that the major stuff should be done overseas (even though the Imperial College is up and running and Joslin is coming up with a centre in Dubai) coz i've heard enough stories of the non-governmental hospitals here being money grabbers more than anything else plus the fact that they dont have a great record to speak of. Speaking of which, anyone been to the Imperial College centre in Abu Dhabi. I've been thinking of going there since quite a while to check it out but I'm being lazy more than anything else

[maya0606]

Oh waw that must be brutal for you!, in Algeria! everything cost for me but when i moved to Toronto everything was free i was SHOCKED!! haha