National Health Insurance Company, Daman, has announced that it will gradually cease printing health insurance cards for Thiqa members as of November. The update will see the Emirates ID card becoming the only document that qualifies members to access healthcare services at providers under Daman’s network.

Daman is currently in its final phase of preparations to cease card printing for the rest of its health insurance plans, details of which will be announced soon.

The announcement comes as Daman has successfully registered over two million transactions during 2017 using Emirates ID cards via its network of healthcare providers.

According to Daman, results are due to the efforts exerted by the company since the initial announcement in 2015, and its official launch in April 2017, as part of its preparations to shift completely to Emirates ID cards.

Hamad Abdulla Al Mehyas, Chief Process Officer at Daman, said, "Daman has gone above and beyond to ensure a seamless transition during the development of its electronic applications so that its services are able to depend on Emirates ID cards instead of health insurance cards.

"This project faced many challenges, given its ambitious goals that seek to make a positive change in the method that has been used to obtain medical services for over a decade," he added. "Through this new procedure, medical facilities will also be able to verify member identity and insurance coverage details at the same time with just the Emirates ID card."

As part of the initiative, Daman have organised since 2016 a number of training workshops for all medical facilities that are part of its network, which include over 2,000 facilities. The workshops detail the use of the new online system to check health insurance coverage details, with the aim of ensuring a streamlined continuation of services and procedures for all beneficiaries and parties concerned.

The Emirates ID card project and other advanced-solutions projects that Daman is working on are part of its continuous support for the government’s initiatives to shift to smart services. These undertakings are also part of its commitment to invest in the development of its electronic infrastructure to benefit citizens, residents, and medical facilities alike.

Daman has confirmed back in April that the validity of health insurance policies and Emirates ID cards are not linked.