State government would spend Rs. 69 crore as premium annually for Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS), out of which Rs. 16 crore was released on Friday.
Finance commissioner Sentiyanger disclosed during a press conference post launch of CMHIS at civil secretariat here. According to CMHIS portal, altogether 46,006 households, 61 State government employees and 45,945 pensioners had been covered till 7 pm on Friday under the scheme, besides 2,33,328 were covered by Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
Planning & Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs minister Neiba Kronu said CMHIS was meant to provide free and cashless treatment for various ailments to all citizens of the State.
He said the beneficiary families (general category) would get a health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per annum on a family floater basis similar to AB-PMJAY, while the sum assured for the State government employees would be Rs 20 lakh per family per annum on a family floater basis.
Further, he mentioned that any additional expenses incurred by the government employees beyond the insured amount would be reimbursed on a case-to-case basis by the State government on the recommendation of State Medical Board.
Noting that applying for medical reimbursements often involved a long procedure and releasing the amount took time, Kronu claimed that CMHIS would be very helpful to get free health services and appealed to all tribal and faith-based organisations and community leaders to create awareness so that the scheme reached the grassroots.
The finance commissioner said the State government pays around Rs.800 as medical allowance (MA) to all government employees, adding that a conscious policy decision had been now taken to convert half of the MA amount to an insurance scheme, which would be more than the allowances the employees received.
He invited the private hospitals to get empanelled as the government had rolled out a scheme whose the package was one of the best available in the country.
He asserted that no one could accuse the State government of favouritism as the scheme covered every individual, unlike the earlier practice where once a person got enrolled, any empanelled hospital would treat the patient as long as he or she produced CMHIS card.
Sentiyanger admitted that there was trust deficit earlier because of certain issues, but assured that this time there would be no discrimination or distinction. He announced that the State government would release Rs 16 crore to the insurance company.
He explained that the insurance period was one year and renewal would be automatic, adding that the card would remain valid as long as the scheme continued and the scheme would continue as long as the State government paid the premium.
He revealed that the State government spent about Rs 25 to 30 crore annually on medical reimbursements, which sometimes went higher. Therefore, he said the government decided to introduce CMHIS by using the money and provide universal health coverage, covering the general categories as well.
On empanelment of hospitals, principal secretary and development commissioner Amardeep Singh Bhatia said, as per the scheme, empanelment was not mandatory and hospitals were free to come forward and get empanelled.
On the delay in release of State share to insurance company because of which many hospitals did not receive payments on time, Bhatia said the government had started a proper mechanism for timely payment and hoped that the system would be continued.
Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) secretary Asangla Imti and deputy director Dr Kika Longkumer also attended the press briefing.
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