Co-pay

A co-pay is the share of each claim the member pays at the point of treatment — usually a percentage of the bill, sometimes a fixed amount — with the insurer paying the remainder. It applies per visit, not once a year.

Also called Copay, Co-payment. Updated 2026-08-26

How a co-pay is written on a UAE rate chart

A co-pay is a property of the whole rate block, not of one plan. An insurer publishes the same plan at several co-pay levels — nil, 10%, 20% — and each level is a separate grid of premiums. A nil co-pay costs the most because the insurer expects to pay the whole of every claim.

Co-pay structures are frequently compound. A single block can read 20% co-pay on all out-patient and 30% on pharmacy, which is two different rates in one label. A comparison that reads only the first percentage in that string maps it onto the plain 20% product and produces premiums a few per cent out — close enough that nobody notices until renewal.

Co-pay caps

Many UAE plans cap the co-pay per consultation, per year, or both — for example 20% up to a maximum of AED 50 per visit. The cap is what makes a percentage co-pay bearable on a large bill, and it lives in the table of benefits rather than on the rate chart, which is why the two documents have to be read together.

Co-pay is not a deductible

A co-pay is charged on every claim. A deductible is an amount paid once before cover starts at all. The two are different mechanisms and a plan can carry both.

Where this comes up

Related terms

In Rabt

Health insurance quoting software for UAE brokers — Quote UAE health insurance from real insurer rate tables: age bands, married-female rates, TPA networks, BASMAH and ICP handled as data, not spreadsheets.

Every one of these is a field in Rabt

Co-pay, network, age band, waiting period — Rabt holds them as data on the plan, so a quote states them the same way every time and a comparison can line them up.

Request access How it works