Jigmi Wangdi

The Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICBL) launched a new medical insurance scheme yesterday, which might come as a potential solution to the escalating expenses incurred by the government for medical referrals.

Referrals are made for complex medical conditions such as cancer treatment, neurosurgery, heart conditions, and other complicated diseases that require surgical procedures.

According to officials from the National Medical Services, referrals typically occur when hospitals like JDWNRH, lack the requisite infrastructure for treatment.

Between 2021 and 2022, the health ministry spent about Nu 206.7 million on referral cases, which increased to Nu 501 million between 2022 and 2023 and Nu 529.95 million from 2023 to April 2024. An additional Nu 80 to Nu 100 million is required till the end of June 2024.

The total cost of referrals increased by 154.3 percent between 2021 and 2023. And between 2021 and 2024, the government’s total spending on medical referrals touched a whopping Nu 1.2 billion.

In response to these mounting costs, RICBL’s medical insurance scheme is designed to ease the financial burden on the government.

The insurance is available to Bhutanese citizens and foreigners residing in the country for more than six months. For now, the insurance scheme will only cover medical treatments in India.

A special feature of the medical insurance scheme is that one policy covers an entire family, including up to two adults and three children. No referral letters will be required from the national hospital for treatment in India.

In addition, the insurance scheme offers free medical checkups every two years and covers inpatient hospitalisation expenses up to 24 hours, including daycare procedures and treatment for less than 24 hours.

The cost of insurance policy ranges from Nu 300,000 to Nu 1,000,000, and covers 150 different surgeries.

The RICBL’s General Manager, Kinga Thinley, said that this medical insurance is affordable, making insurance accessible to all. “The existing health insurance has very high premium fees. However, with this medical insurance, it has been made affordable. The insured can pay in installments.”

For instance, for the insurance sum of Nu 300,000, a person has to pay a total of Nu 7,000 as installments in 12 months.

The waiting period for pre-existing conditions is two years from the policy’s start date. The package also covers domestic road ambulance and domiciliary hospitalisations.

RICBL officials are optimistic that with this medical insurance, more people will seek timely medical treatment, which can lead to quicker diagnoses and more effective treatments.