Nepalese prime minister KP Sharma Oli has asked the ministry of health and population to formulate on priority an action plan for reforms based on the report of the Health Insurance Reform Suggestion Task Force.
Prior to this the task force had briefed the prime minister about its findings and suggestions. According to a news report in My República newspaper prime minister Oli said that citizens should be educated with the goal of creating a healthy Nepal and the situation where people cannot afford treatment when they fall ill must be prevented.
Mr Oli has asked the ministry to come up with a work plan within a week to improve the programme by making it more practical based on the objective review and suggestions provided by the task force for the health insurance programme.
The task force in its recommendations has suggested that there is a need for policy, legal and structural changes in the health insurance programme in the country.
Currently, about NPR11bn is yet to be paid under this programme that covers 27% of the Nepalese population and of these 27% around 48% are active users of the services. The task force has suggested that all citizens should mandatorily participate in the programme and below the absolute poverty line should receive free healthcare services.
The task force has also suggested integrating this programme with basic healthcare and other social security funding programmes. The task force submitted its report to the ministry on 28 December 2024.