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Adopt Punjab’s ₹10 lakh health insurance model: Kejriwal to Goa CM
AAP national convener says 90% of Goa’s population depends on govt healthcare as private treatment is beyond their reach
Panaji
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant to adopt Punjab’s ₹10 lakh health insurance scheme, claiming that the BJP-ruled coastal state’s public healthcare system has “collapsed”.
Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said nearly 90% of Goa’s population depends on government healthcare as private treatment is beyond the reach of most families, especially in case of serious illness.
The Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) in Goa has failed to benefit people, while Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), the state’s only super-speciality government hospital, is overcrowded, and other government hospitals are plagued by staff shortages, lack of specialists, inadequate infrastructure and shortage of medicines, the former Delhi chief minister claimed.
“The entire healthcare system in Goa has collapsed. 90% of the people do not know where to go if a family member falls seriously ill. The DDSSY insurance scheme, which provides an annual cover of ₹4 lakh for families of up to three members and ₹6 lakh for larger families, is inadequate and has become dysfunctional,” Kejriwal added.
The insurance cover is too low to meet the cost of treatment for major ailments, while only 447 diseases and procedures are covered under the scheme, he said.
Hospitals often refuse to honour DDSSY cards because government reimbursements are delayed by several months and the reimbursement rates have not been revised since 2016, the AAP leader said.
“The number of the DDSSY beneficiaries has declined from 2.95 lakh families in 2022-23 to 1.81 lakh in 2025-26, which itself shows that people are not benefiting from the scheme. In Punjab, where the AAP is in power, every resident family is entitled to health insurance of up to ₹10 lakh annually without any income criteria,” he said.
Kejriwal said the Punjab scheme covers around 2,350 diseases and medical procedures, compared to 447 under Goa’s scheme, and hospitals receive payments within 15 days.
“We appeal to Goa CM Pramod Sawant to learn from Punjab’s good practices and implement a ₹10 lakh insurance scheme covering all major diseases and procedures. If this is done, private hospitals will become accessible to common people, ensuring even the poorest person receives the same quality of treatment as the rich,” he said.
Strengthening government hospitals would take time, but until then, a comprehensive insurance-based model would provide immediate relief to the people, Kejriwal asserted.
