MUSCAT: Ahead of a formal announcement by the Ministry of Labour mandating health insurance coverage for private sector employees, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) – the insurance sector regulator – has affirmed that all of the building blocks that together constitute the Unified Health Insurance Scheme (dubbed Dhamani platform) are essentially in place.
With the recent enactment of the new Oman Labour Law, a formal decision obligating private sector companies to provide health coverage under the Dhamani scheme is anticipated sometime in the foreseeable future.
Earlier this year, the CMA stated that the scheme came into force effective from January 1, 2023, although its implementation is proposed to be rolled out in phases, starting with coverage of tourists and visitors.
According to the regulator, all the electronic linkages connecting the Dhamani platform with key government stakeholder agencies and private sector players have been completed. Accordingly, the platform now integrates the systems of, among others, the Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Ministry of Labour, the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), insurance companies and health insurance third-party administrators. These inter-linkages will facilitate the exchange of data and information related to the private sector companies and their employees through 10 e-link processes, it noted.
“Using this e-service, the ROP will be able to carry out the relevant verification with regards to providing health insurance for the expatriate employees by the employer when issuing their residence cards,” the CMA said.
Additionally, the Ministry of Labour will be able to check whether or not employers in the private sector provide health insurance for their Omani employees when certifying their employment contracts when the decision imposing health insurance for the employees of the private sector will be issued by the Ministry of Labour.”
The platform now runs all of the basic applications linked to the Unified Health Insurance Scheme, notably the Unified Portal (Dhamani), Health Data Register (HDR), MapMe, and Master Drug Register (MDR).
For its part, the CMA has issued a number of legislations regulating the Dhamani insurance scheme.
They include a health insurance policy for visitors and the underlying relationships between health service providers, insurance companies and visitors to the Sultanate of Oman.
Also issued last year was the standard agreement for health insurance between insurance companies, health service providers and third-party administrators, as well as directives regulating the revenue cycle management in a move designed to ensure the soundness of all procedures.
Significantly, health insurance is the fast-growing segment of the insurance industry in Oman, according to the CMA. Gross direct premiums for health insurance climbed 16.9 per cent to RO 191.517 million in 2022, compared to RO 163.866 million a year earlier.
Claims paid for the health insurance business also grew 22 per cent to RO 146.538 million in 2022. A total of 36,315 health insurance policies were issued in 2022, up from 22,939 a year earlier, representing a steep jump of 58.3 per cent, according to CMA data.
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