Oman's mandatory private health insurance for private-sector employees has existed in regulation since 2019, but the national digital platform behind it — Dhamani — only formally launched in April 2025 and is still being built out. Understanding the difference between the legal obligation and the practical rollout is most of what you need.
What Dhamani is
Dhamani is Oman's national health insurance platform, administered by the Financial Services Authority — the body that succeeded the Capital Market Authority in this role, working alongside the Ministry of Health and the labour ministry.
The underlying legal framework originates from Capital Market Authority Decision 78/2019, which established mandatory private health insurance for private-sector employees, expatriates and visitors. A related instrument, Decision 34/2019, issued the form of the Unified Health Insurance Document.
You will see "Ministerial Decision 76/2019" cited as the legal basis for Oman's mandatory health insurance. We could not locate that decision.
The numbers that appear repeatedly in credible reporting are CMA Decision 78/2019 and CMA Decision 34/2019. There is also a real but unrelated CMA Decision 76/2020 concerning insurers' investment of assets, which may be the source of the confusion.
If you need the precise legal citation, take it from the FSA's own legislation library rather than from a guide — including this one.
The platform was formally unveiled by the FSA in Muscat in April 2025, connecting private healthcare institutions, insurers, claims managers, regulators and beneficiaries electronically. By June 2026 it had entered a second phase integrating pharmacies for electronic prescriptions, with around 60% pharmacy connectivity and 271 pharmacies registered.
Who must be covered, and who pays
- Private-sector employees, both Omani and expatriate.
- Their spouses and dependent children, commonly cited as under 21.
- Domestic workers, as the employer or sponsor's responsibility.
- Visitors and tourists, through a visitor health coverage requirement.
The employer pays the premium for the mandatory basic package, for employees and dependants. There is no employee contribution required for the core benefit, particularly inpatient. Employers may optionally pass on the cost of supplementary items such as maternity, dental and optical, or ask employees to share outpatient costs.
Coverage is still scaling. One 2026 figure puts current coverage at around 450,000 private-sector employees against an eventual target of more than two million.
What the minimum package covers
The included benefits are consistent across sources: inpatient hospitalisation; emergency and accident care; treatment of acute illness affecting capacity to work; medication prescribed by a licensed physician; basic diagnostics including laboratory and imaging; ambulance; and repatriation of remains.
Commonly excluded from the mandatory minimum and offered as employer-discretion add-ons: maternity and childbirth, paediatric care, dental, vision and wellness.
The annual limit — sources disagree, and it matters
| Version | What it says |
|---|---|
| Version A | Separate sub-limits: inpatient OMR 3,000, outpatient OMR 500, repatriation OMR 1,000. No single combined figure. |
| Version B | A single overall cap of OMR 3,000. |
| Version C | An overall annual limit of OMR 4,500, with an inpatient sub-limit of OMR 3,000 and repatriation of OMR 1,000 nested inside it. |
All three agree the figure OMR 3,000 is real and attaches to the inpatient benefit. Two of the three independently describe roughly the same breakdown — 3,000 inpatient, 500 outpatient, 1,000 repatriation, under a headline around 4,500 — which makes that the more likely reading. We could not confirm it against a primary regulatory schedule of benefits.
An inpatient limit around OMR 3,000 is adequate for a straightforward admission and inadequate for a serious one. Cardiac surgery is cited at OMR 5,000–12,000, and cancer treatment can exceed OMR 25,000.
If you have a family, a chronic condition, or simply want to be able to choose a hospital, the mandatory package is a floor rather than a plan.
One source mentions the cap possibly rising toward OMR 5,000 as "under discussion." That is unsourced rumour and we would not plan around it.
Buying cover on top
Indicative retail and supplemental costs, all from commercial sources and all to be treated as ballpark rather than quotation:
| Plan type | Indicative annual cost |
|---|---|
| Basic expatriate worker plan | OMR 40–60 |
| Basic supplemental, individual | OMR 100–250 |
| Standard individual | OMR 300–600 |
| Mid-range family, two adults and two children | OMR 250–400 |
| Comprehensive individual | OMR 700–1,500 |
| Family comprehensive | OMR 1,000–5,000 |
| Executive worldwide cover | OMR 650–900 |
We could not find any sourced figure for what an employer actually pays per employee for the compulsory group scheme — that number does not appear in public sources. If you are an employer budgeting for it, get a quote from a licensed insurer or broker; do not rely on retail plan pricing as a proxy.
Public healthcare: who gets it free
Free or subsidised public treatment is available to specific expatriate categories: government-sector expatriate employees and their families under their service contract terms; foreign spouses of Omani citizens and their children; the diplomatic corps and dependants; foreign parents of Omani residents living with them; and GCC citizens resident in Oman for three months or more. Visiting delegations receive free emergency, ambulance and critical care only.
For expatriates who are not eligible, fees were revised upward under a Ministry of Health decision in 2023, described as moving to detailed fees according to services provided. The specific amounts were not published in any source we found. One commercial guide cites public health centre visits at around OMR 5–10 for non-eligible expatriates.
A historical "health card" system priced at around one rial a year appears in older guidance. We could find no current 2026 health card fee schedule and consider that figure superseded.
What private treatment costs without insurance
- GP or standard doctor consultation: OMR 15–30.
- Public health centre visit for a non-eligible expatriate: OMR 5–10.
- Dental check-up: OMR 15–30. Root canal OMR 100–250. Implants OMR 500–1,200.
- Maternity package covering prenatal, delivery and postnatal care: OMR 1,000–3,500.
- Emergency ambulance on 9999 is free, with a claimed under-30-minute response in major cities.
Specialist consultation and emergency room walk-in costs we could not source with confidence. None of the major private hospitals publishes a price list we could reach. Call and ask — they will quote.
Hospitals in Muscat
The main government hospitals in Muscat are the Royal Hospital, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital and Khoula Hospital. Nationally, only about ten hospitals are private and the rest are government.
Private hospitals and clinic networks repeatedly named for Muscat include Muscat Private Hospital, Starcare, Badr Al Samaa, Aster Al Raffah, Oman International Hospital, Apollo and NMC.
The US Embassy in Muscat publishes a Medical Facilities in Oman list as a periodically updated public PDF, covering both public and private facilities with contact details.
It is free, curated and more comprehensive than any commercial listing we found. Download it directly — it is the resource we would send a newly arrived family to first.
The medical examination you will actually deal with
Two distinct medical processes exist and guides frequently conflate them.
The in-country residency medical
Administered by the Ministry of Health through the government services platform. Cost OMR 30 for non-catering workers and OMR 40 for catering-sector workers. Documents: residence card, sponsor's ID card, labour force form. The process runs about five days and involves submitting a request, a confirmatory test, payment, a QR code, a visit to a medical centre, results upload and approval. The report is valid 30 days from issue.
Children under 16 do not need this for visit or residence visas, and under-18s cannot register for work visas.
Under a 2022 Ministry of Health change that appears still to be operative, applicants obtain the application form from a Sanad office for OMR 30, and the actual examination at any private medical fitness centre is then free of additional charge. Results are approved electronically and available within 24 hours.
The pre-arrival screening in your home country
Separately, nationals of certain countries are screened before travel through approved clinics in the home country. The list commonly cited includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria, among others — but we could not verify it against an official published list, and the sources themselves advise confirming with your employer or sponsor because it changes.
The tests typically cover blood work for HIV and hepatitis B and C, a chest X-ray for tuberculosis screening, and a general physical examination. Domestic worker and blue-collar visa categories face the most rigorous screening; family dependants and many skilled professionals typically face less. We cannot state the 2026 nationality and visa-category rules with confidence and would not want you to plan on ours rather than your sponsor's.
What changed recently
- April 2025 — the Dhamani platform formally launched by the FSA.
- June 2026 — Dhamani phase two, integrating pharmacies for electronic prescriptions, with around 60% pharmacy connectivity.
- 2023 — Ministry of Health fees revised for expatriates not eligible for free public treatment.
- 2022, still operative — the streamlined visa medical check-up procedure, with the Sanad-office form replacing separately charged clinic and approval fees.
Does my employer have to pay for my health insurance in Oman?
What does the mandatory health insurance package in Oman cover?
How much will the mandatory policy actually pay out?
How much does top-up health insurance cost in Oman?
Can expatriates use government hospitals in Oman for free?
How much is the medical examination for an Oman residence card?
Ask your employer for the actual policy document, not a summary — specifically the annual limit, the inpatient sub-limit and the network of hospitals you may use.
If there is a network restriction, check that a hospital you would actually want to attend is in it.
Price a top-up policy before you need one. Pre-existing condition exclusions are far easier to avoid at the start.
If your family are on dependent visas, confirm in writing that they are on the policy, not just eligible for it.
Do the residency medical with a valid 30-day window in mind — it expires quickly.