Kathmandu, July 9 – Health and Population Minister Pradeep Paudel has announced that individuals enrolled in the national health insurance program will now receive double the treatment support compared to before.

Fulfilling a prior commitment, Minister Paudel stated that patients suffering from eight specific critical diseases will now receive up to NPR 200,000 for treatment—an increase from the current NPR 100,000. “With the intention of relieving citizens who suffer from serious illnesses but cannot afford treatment costs, we have made arrangements to provide NPR 200,000 worth of medical support through the Health Insurance Program for eight types of patients, starting from the first of Shrawan,” the Minister wrote on social media this morning.

Paudel had earlier pledged to raise the support amount to benefit those affected by serious ailments. Accordingly, the ministry had issued a formal request to the Health Insurance Board.

Dr. Raghuraj Kafle, Executive Director of the Board, confirmed that a late-night board meeting on Tuesday approved the decision to provide NPR 200,000 in treatment support for eight critical illnesses. The new provision will be effective from Shrawan 1 that coincides with mid-July.

Minister Paudel had previously introduced policy changes to allow health insurance members to receive treatment from facilities in their own locality and access insurance services at all levels of healthcare. “We are continuously working to refine the health insurance system and make it more accessible to the general public,” he said, welcoming constructive suggestions and feedback from the public.

In addition to enhancing treatment coverage, Minister Paudel has introduced policies to increase the revenue of the Health Insurance Fund. Recent government policy directives aim to enroll all employees from government and organized sectors into the health insurance scheme. Though already provisioned in the Health Insurance Act, this measure had yet to be implemented. Its enforcement is expected to increase enrollment and boost fund income.

The ministry has also initiated coordination with other government agencies to enroll foreign migrant workers and their families in the insurance program.

Furthermore, the government has committed in the new budget to settle all outstanding dues of the Health Insurance Board. Minister Paudel has also decided to allocate 1% of the income from federal hospital development committees to the health insurance fund. He has additionally pledged to increase funding for the program through progressive taxation.

Government-provided treatment assistance is also being channeled through the health insurance program to increase public participation. According to Executive Director Kafle, some hospitals making irregular payment claims have faced action, and the board is improving its monitoring system. He added that various measures are being explored to increase the fund’s revenue. These reforms are expected to boost both premium collection and enrollment, ensuring the sustainability of the insurance program.

People’s News Monitoring Service