Health insurance for private sector is not ‘socialised’ in Oman

Muscat: The move to generalise health insurance among private sector employees, residents and visitors to the Sultanate is not a ‘socialised' health insurance scheme and will not be subsidised by the government, a senior Capital Market Authority official said.

Ahmed bin Ali Al Mamari, Vice President for Insurance Sector, Capital Market Authority, said, "There is confusion between the concept of private health insurance and social health insurance. Private health insurance, which reflects the concept of Dhamani, does not include direct government support or funding, while social health insurance is partially or entirely funded by the government, which is closer to what people are receiving from the government currently."
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This development came during the fourth awareness meeting held to introduce Dhamani, the national project to generalise health insurance among private sector employees and visitors to the Sultanate, which was organised by the Capital Market Authority and the Oman Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was held under the patronage of H.E. Sayyid Ibrahim bin Said bin Ibrahim Al Busaidi, Governor of Al Buraimi.

Sayyid Ibrahim said during the event, "The government's approach to generalise health insurance among private sector employees, residents and visitors to the Sultanate is an important step and a progressive move to regulate the labour market in the private sector. The next step should be ensuring the efficient implementation of this project.

Speaking about the day's event, he added, "The organization of such awareness meetings that tour the Sultanate's different governorates reflect the concept of partnership with the employers in the private sector and other stakeholders. It represents a real opportunity to understand the different aspects of the project and its suggested implementation phases as well as for exchanging views and addressing inquiries."