Saturday 07 / September / 2024
Muscat: A new decision has been issued by His Excellency the Minister of Health, to exempt several categories from fees by providing free treatment services. This decision also includes foreigners, according to certain conditions specified by the decision.
His Excellency Dr. Hilal Al-Sabti, Minister of Health, issued Ministerial Resolution No. 126/2023. This decision issues a regulation for fees for treatment services, and cancels a previous decision with the same title No. 55/2009.
The decision included an affirmation of the commitment of health institutions to provide treatment services to all citizens and residents of the Sultanate of Oman, and to facilitate procedures for their access to these services.
All health institutions must take all necessary measures to ensure that the prescribed fees are collected in a manner that does not preclude the treatment of emergency cases.
Free treatment:
The new decision specified categories that enjoy free treatment services, according to the following:
Categories covered by the canceled decision: Omanis, and citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries residing in the Sultanate of Oman for a period of no less than (3) months.
The canceled decision did not specify the period of residence for citizens of the Gulf countries.
In addition, the free treatment services included foreigners married to Omani women. This includes: Husband, children born to an Omani wife from this marriage, foreign women married to Omanis, foreigners working in the government and their families according to their service contracts, foreign members of the diplomatic corps and their family members according to the annual tables issued.
New categories: Foreign parents of an Omani residing with him in the Sultanate of Oman, and foreign parents and children of a foreign husband or wife of Omani origin residing with him in the Sultanate of Oman.
Exception:
The decision canceled the category of visiting delegations to the Sultanate, including delegations of sports and cultural clubs invited by the official authorities from free treatment services. It added them within an excluded category to which free treatment applies in the case of primary health care services, emergency and ambulance services, and treatment of critical cases that require residence in a health institution.
This is in addition to citizens of GCC Countries residing in the Sultanate of Oman for a period of less than 3 months.
Exemption from paying all fees:
In addition to the categories covered by exemption from all previously specified fees, new categories have been added, namely: Patients with an epidemic or infectious disease that threatens public health and for which a decision is issued by the Minister, their contacts and suspected cases, organ donors for one of the categories specified in the decision, children benefiting from expanded immunisation program, all beneficiaries of national vaccination campaigns, and circumcision operations for converts to the Islamic religion in the Sultanate of Oman.
Fees:
The regulation specified detailed fees for its services, and the fees for those eligible for free treatment are unchanged with regard to registration, annual renewal, and admission to tertiary, secondary, and primary health care hospitals for categories of (VIPs, private nursing ward, and a private room in the general ward).
As for the groups who are not eligible for free treatment, these fees have been raised.
The decision also set detailed fees according to the services provided.
Additionally, the decision included Appendix No. 12, that includes fees for additional services, as well as for pilgrims and Umrah performers, which is set at OMR (2) for those who are eligible for free treatment.
The decision also set fees for using ambulances in two cases with medical coverage and without medical coverage for those who are not eligible for free treatment.
