KATHMANDU, Sept. 14 -- The Insurance Board last year launched insurance against COVID-19 pandemic with much hype, but the government bodies have left insured COVID-19 patients in lurch as they fail to settle insurance claims worth more than Rs 11 billion.

According to the Nepal Insurers' Association (NIA), the payment of COVID-19 insurance claims have been postponed since the first week of August after the government stopped releasing necessary amounts. When the program was launched, it was agreed that non-life insurance companies, Nepal Reinsurance and Insurance Committee and the government would pay for COVID-19 insurance.

However, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the main government body to provide the amount, has been reluctant to pay...