Workers employed in Oman’s private sector will be legally entitled to receive health cover from the “beginning of next year” the minister of health announced at a conference.
Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid Al-Sa’eedi told the health conference that only 9 percent of Omanis and 10 percent of expats employed in the private sector currently have health insurance – adding that the situation needed to change national daily Times of Oman reported.
“We hope to start the health insurance plan in the private sector for nationals and expats working in that sector in phases from the beginning of next year,” Al-Sa’eedi explained.
“We must find new ways to finance the health sector… In the Sultanate, spending on health costs about 3 percent of the national income, however, more spending does not mean better quality. There are countries which have increased spending on health care, but have witnessed a drop in quality. We have to make sure we address that in our regulations,” he added.