She urged the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance to help bring all health insurance programs under the Health Insurance Board's program and to provide insurance to all citizens and public servants.
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Minister for Health and Population Dr. Sudha Sharma has warned that the health insurance program may be closed.
At a program organized by the Health Insurance Board at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers' Office, Singha Durbar, she said that the program cannot be run with a zero budget.
The board had discussed with stakeholders including Prime Minister Sushila Karki and Finance Secretary Ghanshyam Upadhyay. She said that there is no budget because the 11 billion given by the government this year was spent on paying off last year's arrears.
She said that the hospitals operating the health insurance program have about 14 billion arrears to pay. 'It was said in the budget that 11 billion would be given to pay off last year's arrears.' They said that we would give an additional 10 billion,' she said, '11 billion paid off the arrears of the last fiscal year. The budget for this year has not come. If there is no budget of 14/15 billion immediately, the health insurance program will be closed.'
She said that if the Ministry of Finance cannot provide the money, permission should be given to close the health insurance program. In the discussion, Finance Secretary Upadhyay had said that he could not provide additional budget for health insurance. He said that the current situation has arisen because the Ministry of Health did not pay attention and importance to health insurance, which is the budget preparation. ‘The Ministry of Finance, which makes popular decisions, is not informed, and insurance is called but is not implemented according to the principles of insurance,’ he said, ‘The Ministry of Health should make extensive reforms in the health insurance program.’
Finance Secretary Upadhyay suggested that the Ministry of Health should raise the cost of insurance from the budget allocated for the current fiscal year. He said that the Ministry of Finance would support for that.
In response, Health Minister Sharma said that only Rs 700 million could be arranged from the ministry’s budget. She said that although she proposed to the Ministry of Finance to transfer the amount, it was stopped.
‘The health insurance program has reached a complicated state. Currently, the suggestion is not working. "We need a budget," she said. "The Ministry of Health has complained that the Ministry of Finance has been lying."
She said that even though the board did an immature job by spending without ensuring resources, the insurance money was spent on the health care of the citizens. She urged the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance to bring all health insurance programs under the Health Insurance Board's program and to help all citizens and public servants join insurance.
The Insurance Board has been paying 23 billion rupees annually for health care. Only 4.5 billion rupees are collected annually from the 3,500 premium fee per family. The board is in financial crisis due to lack of resources. It has been continuing the program by receiving grants from the government every year.
