KATHMANDU, May 1: Individuals enrolled in the health insurance program in Nepal will now be able to set their point of departure at their current place of residence to access services.
A cabinet meeting held recently approved a proposal by Health Minister Pradip Paudel to amend the Health Insurance Regulations, allowing this new provision, according to his secretariat.
Previously, Minister Paudel had pledged to make it easier for insured individuals to access services by allowing them to set their primary contact point at their current location, even if they had moved away from the place where they initially enrolled.
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In line with this commitment, the MoHP submitted a proposal to amend the regulations, which was approved during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. This change is expected to reduce the inconvenience of having to return to the original place of insurance enrollment just to receive a referral. Many citizens enrolled in the health insurance program had been demanding such a provision.
Similarly, according to the proposal passed by the cabinet, individuals will no longer have to wait three months to access health insurance services — they will now be able to receive services within just one month.
Minister Paudel’s Secretariat stated that this change will make it easier and more convenient for people to access health insurance benefits. “To increase public access to health insurance, amendments were necessary,” said Minister Paudel, “These changes will help make health insurance more practical and accessible.”
Additionally, under the new amendment, a primary service point for health insurance will now be established at all administrative levels. Although health insurance has expanded to all levels, not all of them currently have a designated first service point.
With this revision, every local government will now have such a system in place. Minister Paudel’s Secretariat stated that this is expected to eliminate the need for people to travel far just to receive basic services through the insurance program.
