Lalitpur Metropolitan's initiative: The metropolitan will pay 40% of the health insurance premium

Nepal Health News, Lalitpur: Lalitpur Metropolitan City has decided to pay 40 percent of the health insurance premium for its residents. In this regard, on Wednesday, Metropolitan Chief Chiribabu Maharjan and Executive Director of the National Insurance Board, Raghuraj Kafle, signed a memorandum of understanding.

Under this plan, the metropolitan city will cover 100 percent of the health insurance premium for municipal police, sanitation workers, drivers, single women, and community health motivators (THPs). A check was also handed over during the program for paying the premium.

Lalitpur Metropolitan started the health insurance program two years ago in technical collaboration with Patan Hospital. Through this program, metropolitan residents have had the opportunity to receive health services from the first service center of Patan Hospital.

Metropolitan Chief Maharjan described the collaboration with Patan Hospital as a new and important initiative in the health sector and mentioned that the support has continued even after the COVID pandemic. The metropolitan city has made significant contributions to the establishment of an oxygen plant and the upgrade of the mortuary house at Patan Hospital. He also shared that there are plans to further expand the hospital due to increasing demand for health services.

Metropolitan spokesperson Raju Maharjan claimed that Lalitpur Metropolitan is the first local level government to pay health insurance premiums and said this initiative sets an example for other local governments. Director of Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Ravi Shakya, evaluated this decision as an important and positive step toward citizens’ health protection.

Executive Director of the National Insurance Board, Raghuraj Kafle, noted that this program is exemplary for local governments and stated that there is no possibility of weakening it. He said, “This has provided a significant achievement in health for grassroots citizens