₹1,140.75 crore paid as this year’s premium for CMCHIS
The Hindu
CHENNAI
The Health Department on Tuesday paid ₹1,140.75 crore as this year’s premium for the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) to United India Insurance Company. Along with this, it paid last year’s pending premium of ₹59.37 crore.
Handing over a cheque for around ₹1,200 crore to company representatives, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said that on January 10, 2022, an agreement was signed to extend CMCHIS for five more years. Accordingly, 95% of the premium — ₹1,128 crore — was paid for the benefit of 1,39,87,495 families, with the premium per family being ₹849, he said.
From January 11, 2021 to January 10, 2022, 7,49,227 persons had benefited from the scheme, and for this, a premium of ₹1,227.35 crore was paid. The scheme, launched in 2009, had benefited a total of 1,23,32,744 persons till December 30, 2022.
“We have now paid the premium of ₹1,140.75 crore for the second year and the remaining 5% premium of ₹59.37 crore for last year,” he said.
Comparing the scheme’s features during the previous government, he said the premium was ₹699 then and increased to ₹849 now. From covering treatment of 1,027 diseases, the scheme now covered 1,513 treatments, he said, adding that the number of empanelled hospitals had increased from 970 to 1,733.
A total of 1,320 children, who lost their parents to COVID-19, were brought under CMCHIS. Apart from this, 1,414 families of media persons were also covered. A total of 520 residents of the Institute of Mental Health were issued CMCHIS cards.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.