The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s flagship health insurance initiative, Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana, aimed at providing ₹10 lakh insurance cover to every family in Punjab, is finally set to be rolled out in January next year.
The scheme aims to extend free medical treatment to all 3 crore residents of Punjab, regardless of income status. Under the previous health insurance programme, Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna, launched under the Capt Amarinder Singh government, families were eligible for treatment up to ₹5 lakh. The new scheme doubles that coverage per family.
Although the scheme was officially ‘launched’ on July 8 by chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal at a public event in Sector 35, Chandigarh, and the cabinet gave its formal approval two days later on July 10, its rollout was delayed as the required framework had to be put in place.
The government had initially announced that the scheme would commence on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti), with pilot enrolments planned in Tarn Taran and Barnala.
Officials privy to the developments, who didn’t wish to be named, said that the launch announcement was made in haste, even before finalising the insurance company responsible for underwriting the scheme.
{{/usCountry}}Officials privy to the developments, who didn’t wish to be named, said that the launch announcement was made in haste, even before finalising the insurance company responsible for underwriting the scheme.
{{/usCountry}}“It was only on December 3 that bids from insurance companies were opened. United India Insurance emerged as the lowest and best bidder for implementation,” the official quoted above added.
Health minister Dr Balbir Singh said that all formalities for the scheme’s rollout are now ‘almost complete’. “The pilot registrations in Tarn Taran and Barnala received an excellent response. As many as 54,009 persons from 18,054 families have been enrolled in Barnala, whereas in Tarn Taran, 98,738 persons have been enrolled from 28,706 families till October 24,” the minister said.
Health cards under the scheme can be made at Sewa Kendras or Common Service Centres (CSCs), and citizens can also generate their cards online using Aadhaar or Voter ID. The scheme is slated to cover over 2,000 medical procedures and surgeries across empanelled hospitals.
“Every citizen of Punjab will be entitled to free healthcare, including government employees and pensioners, without any income limit. Previously, only eligible families could access benefits, but now the entire population is covered,” the CM had stated while launching the scheme.