Punjab inks deal with United India Insurance, to roll out free cashless health treatment scheme from Jan 15

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will formally launch the scheme on January 15. (Express Photo)

The Punjab government Friday signed an agreement with the United India Insurance to provide free cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh to every family in the state under the ‘Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna’, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh said. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will formally launch the scheme on January 15.

The universal healthcare cover will be provided to all 65 lakh families in the state. Any resident of Punjab having an Aadhaar card and a voter card will be eligible to avail the benefits of this scheme, the health minister told reporters.

“This scheme will cover 100 per cent of the population in the state,” he said.

The minister emphasised that the scheme is designed for total inclusivity, featuring no income cap or exclusion criteria. He said over 9,000 camps will be held for the enrolment of people to make their cards for the scheme. “Enrolment has been made simple and accessible through Common Service Centres (CSCs) after which beneficiaries will receive dedicated MMSY health cards. A helpline will be launched soon to facilitate the process,” he added.

Replying to a question, he said around 2,200 medical procedures are covered under this scheme.

“Beneficiaries can access secondary and tertiary care across a robust network of 824 empanelled hospitals, which currently includes 212 public hospitals, eight government of India hospitals and over 600 private hospitals. The number of empanelled hospitals is expected to increase further as the scheme progresses,” he said.

Meanwhile, an agreement was signed with the United India Insurance in the presence of the health minister. The agreement was signed by State Health Agency (SHA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanyam Aggarwal and United India Insurance Executive Director Mathew George.

The mninister said said the United India Insurance Company, selected for its track record in implementing similar health insurance schemes in other states such as Tamil Nadu, will provide coverage of Rs 1,00,000 per family for all 65 lakh families in the state. Although the Health Minister did not specify how much the government would pay as premium, he claimed that under the scheme, payments would be made to hospitals within a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of one month. “For treatment requirements between Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 10,00,000, the insurance will be provided by the State Health Agency (SHA), Punjab,” he said.

A few days ago, Mann had said the scheme would ensure cashless and paperless treatment and help cut out-of-pocket spending on healthcare in both urban and rural areas.

He had said expenses related to hospitalisation, surgeries, ICU care, diagnostics, medicines and pre- and post-hospitalisation treatment would be covered under approved packages.