Koshi Hospital Overwhelmed Amidst Heatwave and Insurance Service Cuts

Biratnagar. The maximum temperature in Biratnagar reached 38 degrees Celsius on Monday. Although Tuesday was said to be 37 degrees Celsius, a skin-burning hot wind was blowing outside. Due to this, healthy people are not able to go out of the house.

In such suffocating and unbearable heat, hundreds of people can be seen in line in the premises of Koshi Hospital in Biratnagar. Hundreds of patients, who have traveled a long and arduous journey for treatment, are forced to stand in line for hours waiting for their turn in the scorching sun that spews fire. Due to the long wait and the heat, there is a risk that the line itself will make them sicker than the disease.

Thousands of poor citizens have been affected after the Health Insurance Board stopped all health insurance services except emergencies in private hospitals from Jestha 16th. Kamala Lamsal, 46, of Budhiganga-1, was scheduled for surgery to remove gallstones on Jestha 17th, but she was in distress the day before when insurance was stopped. Now she is forced to either go to a private hospital by borrowing money at high interest or stand in line in the scorching sun of Koshi Hospital.

After insurance services were cut in private hospitals, there is no space to put a foot in 'Koshi Hospital', the largest government hospital in Koshi Province. Earlier, 1,000 to 1,200 patients used to come daily, but now it has started exceeding 2,000. According to the hospital's Medical Superintendent Dr. Ramnarayan Chaudhary, 1,800 people had bought OPD tickets by 1 PM on Monday.

However, a government hospital with limited manpower and infrastructure does not have the capacity to handle this load. Apan Miya of Biratnagar had reached the hospital by 8 am and stood in line. He was able to meet the doctor only after a strenuous wait of 5 hours. 'The line is so long that it takes hours to get a token. After insurance stopped in private hospitals, people like us are in a situation where the government's line and sun will make us sick,' he said.

Citizens were attracted to the health insurance in Koshi Province. 52 percent of the total population (about 2.6 million) are enrolled in insurance. Among them, more than 251,000 are senior citizens and thousands are extremely poor and disabled individuals. They, who were previously receiving services from 113 health institutions, are now stranded as services have been stopped from 21 private hospitals including three large medical colleges.

The Health Insurance Board claims that this decision was made to strengthen government hospitals and manage reimbursements for private ones, but the reality is that the government is unable to pay the reimbursement of approximately 10 to 12 billion rupees to private hospitals.

Dr. Gyanendraman Singh Karki, a director at Virat Medical College, calls this 'the state's lack of foresight and ego'. '99 percent of government hospitals in the country are lacking in resources and manpower. There is no MRI, no advanced CT scan,' said Dr. Karki, 'In such a situation, telling patients to go to government hospitals by bypassing private ones is a serious بازی with the health rights of citizens.'

The health insurance program was a golden plan of a welfare state. However, this hasty decision made without preparation and alternatives has caused extreme hardship to the general public. On one hand, the life-threatening heat of 40 degrees, on the other hand, the pain of illness, and on top of that, the chaotic lines of government hospitals and the exorbitant fees of private ones! The right of the poor to receive treatment easily is today flowing away with sweat in the hot premises of Koshi Hospital due to the government's whim.