Article at a glance:

Private solutions for health care in the Gulf

• The governments of the states in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) want the private sector to play a bigger role in their health care systems, in both the provision and financing of care.
• To promote the private sector’s involvement, GCC governments must make big regulatory and policy changes—above all, using public funds to reimburse nationals for the private health care services they consume.
• To be in the best position to succeed, private providers will need to decide whether to enter into government contracts to manage public facilities or to run their own facilities. The private payers most likely to succeed will build scale by competing in more than one GCC state.