Mar 13, Kathmandu:  Thousands of patients were deprived of treatment due to technical problems in hospitals where health insurance is applicable.

The patients who were treated by health insurance in major central hospitals such as Bharatpur, Koshi, Narayani, and other central hospitals of the valley were deprived of treatment. Heera Koirala, who came to Charity Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Thapathali for a hysterectomy after being referred from Okhaldhunga Mission Hospital, could not get treatment from the insurance even though she had health insurance. Koirala reached the hospital at 9 am and reached the ticket counter after standing in a long queue.

He was turned away saying there was a problem with the health insurance. At 12:45 in the afternoon, when I got in line again and reached the counter, the money was not shown on the health insurance number. On reaching the social security unit again, the full amount was shown. When calling the counter from the unit, the counter replied that the ticket will not be given and the treatment will not be given without showing the activation of the insurance and the money.

Like Koirala, hundreds of patients who came from villages for treatment could not get treatment due to health insurance problems. Executive Director of Health Insurance Board Dr. According to Damodar Basaula, there is no fault of the insurance board, he informed that the service was affected in the hospital where the health insurance was applied after a technical problem occurred in the 'Government Integrated Data Center' (GIDC).

He informed me that due to the problem in GIDC, the service has been affected from 7 am to 11 am in the hospital where the health insurance program has been implemented. When the service was affected for four hours, the patients who went to get services under the insurance became deprived. He said that there was a problem at GIDC since 7 in the morning and the service has been resumed since noon.

Although the insurance board said that the service started at noon, the treatment could not be provided through health insurance in Thapathali hospital. Hospital Director Dr. Santosh Paudel informed us that there is a problem with the treatment through insurance on Sunday. The Trivi Teaching Hospital published the notice itself after a problem with the server.