Punjab rolls out mega health insurance scheme
Mohali (Pb): The Punjab government Tuesday rolled out a mega health insurance scheme clubbing the Centre's Ayushman Bharat plan with its own, a combination which it said will benefit 46 lakh families covering 76 per cent of the state's population.
The 'Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana' incorporates the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the Centre's health insurance scheme for the poor unveiled in September 2018 and kept on hold so far by the Punjab government.
Going by the last Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY would have covered 14.86 lakh families in the state, the state government said.
The Punjab scheme has extended this to cover 31 lakh more families, taking the total to nearly 46 lakh families, it said.
Like the original PMJAY, the Punjab government will provide cashless health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per year.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched the scheme to mark the 75th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Eleven people from Mohali district were handed over their e-cards, becoming the first beneficiaries of the scheme.
The Centre and the state government will bear the cost of the annual premium for 14.86 lakh families in the ratio of 60:40. For the remaining beneficiaries, the Punjab government will bear the entire expense, a press release said. The state government will shell out Rs 276 crore, or 83 per cent, of the annual premium of Rs 333 crore. The Centre will pay the remaining Rs 57 crore.
