Healthcare watchdogs want ins. firms to offer more comprehensive coverage for organ donors: A draft law is in the works to require ins. companies to provide more comprehensive coverage of organ donation and organ transplants, UAE National Transplant Committee Chairman Ali Al Obaidi told Gulf News. The amendments to the organ transplant law will also call on them to form strategic partnerships with the Health Ministry’s Hayat program, the national program for organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

Only partial coverage is currently available: Transplant surgeries often fall outside the umbrella of health ins. coverage because of how expensive they can be. When ins. companies do offer coverage, it typically focuses on the recipient’s surgery costs, often leaving the donor without coverage and excluding post-transplant care for both parties.

What they said: “Earlier, the law was not clear about the role of ins. in organ donation and transplantation, but now it is clear,” said Ali Al Obaidi. “We know that health ins. support is also part of the new [draft] law and it is mandatory for everybody [ins. companies to comply].”

What’s next? The Dubai Health Authority will work with the National Transplant Committee to mandate the law in Dubai, CEO of the health regulation sector at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) Marwan Al Mulla told the news outlet.

About the Hayat Program: The nation-wide campaign was launched by the Health Ministry in 2017 to regulate the organ donation process and provide care for organ deficient patients.

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