Kathmandu, June 6 -- Last week, Sanu Maiya Dhakal, a resident of Sundarijal, Kathmandu, went to Jorpati-based Nepal Medical College after developing severe back pain.

She chose it because it is the referral hospital under the health insurance scheme for which she had paid premiums about eight months earlier.

The hospital, however, denied outpatient services under the health insurance scheme, following the government's decision to discontinue outpatient care at private hospitals.

"I waited hours for a ticket and a few hours to see a doctor at Bir Hospital," complained Dhakal, who is 38. "The doctor asked me to come with a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) report immediately, but I am told that I have to wait until September to get it don...