Out of 180, 150 doctors refused the appointment by the Health Insurance Board

Nepal Health News, Kathmandu – Out of the 180 doctors selected by the Health Insurance Board to be appointed on a contract basis for evaluating insurance claims, nearly 150 have refused to accept their appointment letters.

The doctors expressed their disagreement, stating that the workload set by the board is extremely unreasonable and impractical. According to them, the condition requires each doctor to evaluate 400 insurance claims per working day. One doctor explained, “Evaluating 400 claims within a 7-hour workday means assessing nearly one claim per minute, which is not medically realistic.”

The board had called for medical officers with the aim of clearing the backlog of old claims. However, due to the nature of the work, the time constraints, and the excessive workload, most doctors declined to sign the contract.

According to the doctors, if the set number of claims is not evaluated in a day, the remaining claims will be added to the next day's workload, causing the pressure to build up continuously. They stated that such working conditions lack respect for labor and professional fairness.

Only a few of the selected doctors have indicated a willingness to accept the proposal, while the majority have submitted letters of disagreement to the ministry, requesting a review of the job description.