Regulators, employers meet to discuss private sector health insurance in Oman

Muscat: Oman's top stock market and insurance regulator has met with representatives of companies through the Oman Contractors Association to discuss the main points of the new health insurance scheme for private sector employees.
Capital Market Authority met with the Oman Contractors Association to review the main features of the health insurance scheme as part of an awareness campaign directed towards its discussion.
Titled ‘Dhamani’ – Arabic for ‘my insurance’ – the new health insurance scheme provides coverage for Omanis working in the private sector, expatriates residing in Oman, as well as tourists who visit the Sultanate.
A spokesman for the Capital Market Authority said, “The meeting commenced with a review of the latest developments of implementation of health insurance on the employees of the private sector, the expatriates residing in Oman and the visitors.
“The meeting then discussed the proposed implementation phases besides reviewing the key steps taken by CMA in collaboration with the entities concerned with implementation of the health insurance scheme and identification of best methods for implementation of the scheme in the construction sector and the benefits of implementation of Dhamani on the employees of the construction sector,” he added.
The meeting also discussed the initiative of the Contractors Association to revitalise the construction sector. CMA emphasised during the meeting that implementation of the unified health insurance policy which covers basic health care is to provide health insurance for the employees of the private sector and other categories targeted by the scheme.
“It is noteworthy that the health insurance work team is continuing the endeavours to implement health insurance on the employees of the private sector and visitors,” added the CMA official. “Health insurance is witnessing growth.
He explained, “Unaudited statistics for the year 2018 indicate the share of health insurance in the total insurance portfolio is 33 per cent thanks to the increased awareness of the individuals and institutions of the importance of health insurance in mitigating the burden of treatment in case of injury or disease.”
Oman’s Capital Market Authority regulates procedures required to develop the capital market and insurance sectors in the country. CMA supervises and monitors institutions regulated by it to upgrade the efficiency and the level of capital market and insurance sectors in general, and to protect investors and policyholders in particular.
“The legislative frame of CMA witnessed in the last period remarkable developments as a response for the requirements of the stages it has been through and for being in line with the developments regionally and internationally,” said the spokesman. “In this frame, the Sultanate presided over a number of fields especially those related to disclosure, corporate governance and the development of legal frameworks of the capital market as mentioned in a number of reports issued by international and regional institutions.”