Kathmandu. The Health Insurance Board has decided to reduce the insurance service from February 1. The Board has decided to provide OPD service worth Rs 25,000 in a year. With this decision, a family with health insurance will now get OPD charges up to Rs 25,000 annually.

The board meeting held on January 24 informed about the decision on Monday. The notice states that the insured will now be entitled to a maximum of Rs 25,000 in the OPD service in a fiscal year.

After that, the facility will be for hospitalization, lab testing and emergency treatment, according to the board. According to the board, it has decided to reduce the cost of treatment as most of the expenditure is in the OPD.

The Insurance Board had been providing health services worth one lakh rupees by taking three thousand five hundred rupees from a family of seven. The board has decided to reduce the service facilities due to the high amount paid to the hospitals. The board is yet to pay Rs 11 crore to the hospitals.

Similarly, the treatment of eight types of severe and chronic diseases will be as per the existing arrangement, the board said.