Mandatory health insurance for Omanis and expatriates

Compulsory health insurance will reduce outbound medical tourism. Oman government plans to make health insurance mandatory for both Omanis and expatriates.

Compulsory health insurance will help residents and citizens of Oman to enjoy better medical services in the Sultanate.

The aim is to get a better spread of patients between private and public hospitals. Public hospitals and clinics are overloaded with patients, which ultimately affects the quality of service and results in a long period of waiting for an appointment or surgery.

The government plans to make health insurance mandatory for both Omanis and expatriates.

A key aim is to reduce outbound medical tourism. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2015 saw 80,000 Omanis travel to Thailand as medical tourists. An even larger number is believed to have gone to India. But both figures are guestimates.

The Ministry of Health has set up a committee to work out the best way of introducing compulsory health insurance in 2017. Rather than a state scheme, the preferred method is competing private health insurers offering a range of packages for expatriates and local citizens.