Tamil Nadu hikes health insurance cover to Rs. 5 lakh

The insurance cover under the ‘Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme’ in Tamil Nadu has been enhanced from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for about 1.58 crore families in the state. The scheme, launched in 2009 by the DMK regime, provides access to 1,027 medical procedures for beneficiaries. The coverage of the scheme was increased after it was linked to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said 26.96 lakh people have benefitted from the scheme by availing of insurance worth Rs 5,133.33 crore from the scheme. On an average, out of the 1.58 beneficiaries, about 5.5 lakh patients have been using the scheme annually with a cover of Rs 2 lakh. The state government was paying Rs 698 per family per annum for the coverage of Rs 2 lakh, which amounts to a sum of Rs 1,000 crore, and the claim incurred annually was more than 100 per cent. As per the new MoU signed with Centre, making it a combined scheme, another 10 lakh families who were not in the state list will be added. The 1,027 medical procedures accessible under the scheme will continue to be the same in private sector as against the Centre’s 1,300 procedures.