One Percent of Federal Hospital Income to be Contributed to Health Insurance Fund

Nepal Health News, Kathmandu. Minister for Health and Population Pradeep Poudel has decided to allocate one percent of the total income of the Federal Hospital Development Committee to the Health Insurance Fund.

In a decision made today, Minister Poudel stated that although the Health Insurance Act had provisions, the Health Insurance Fund had not been activated so far. He has decided to make the fund operational and collect the amount through the fund itself.

Since the Ministry of Finance has already given its consent, the Health Insurance Board now has a clear path to receive additional sources of funding. Until now, the income coming through the Ministry of Health and Population had been the sole source of funds for the Health Insurance Fund, as the fund itself had not been activated.

Minister Poudel expressed his belief that strengthening the Health Insurance Fund is essential to enhancing the effectiveness of the health insurance program. He also mentioned that the government would move forward with further improvements based on the report from the Health Insurance Reform Task Force.

The report from the Insurance Reform Task Force, which was made public some time ago, suggested that one percent of the salary of government employees receiving wages from the state should be contributed by the employee, with the remaining one percent to be contributed by the state, and that tax revenues from health-related goods should also be directed to the fund.

Ministry spokesperson Dr. Prakash Budhathoki mentioned that the current decision is expected to contribute to strengthening the Health Insurance Fund.