Shillong, Nov 27: Meghalaya government, with advisory support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, signed an agreement with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd. (ICICI) to roll out a comprehensive health insurance scheme which will benefit all the residents of the state.
Christened as the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS), the scheme will provide all households in the state with a financial cover of up to Rs 1,60,000 per year to cover
in-patient services, irrespective of income levels.
The new health insurance scheme is among the first of its type across India. It uses the standard RSBY platform supported by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and expands the cover available under RSBY both in terms of universalizing the scheme across the entire population instead of just those covered under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) List; and also in terms of deepening the scheme to provide an enhanced cover of up to Rs. 1,60,000 instead of Rs. 30,000, thereby providing for cashless treatment of specified high cost and recurrent illnesses.
The agreement was signed in Shillong by Meban R. Synrem, IAS, CEO, Megha Health Insurance Scheme and Secretary, Department of Health and
Family Welfare and Pranab Sharma, associate vice president, ICICI
Lombard in the presence of the Chief Minister. Mukul Sangma, Chief Secretary, WMS Pariat, Commissioner & Secretary Health & Family Welfare, DP Wahlang and representatives from the IFC and the World Bank.
ICICI was selected as the insurer after a rigorous and competitive bidding process advised by the IFC in which bids were received from six leading insurers, resulting in a reduction in premium per household payable by the government.
The scheme will be integrated with the existing public health system of Meghalaya by empanelling public sector hospitals as well as private hospitals in the state and engaging with the government health care providers through rigorous training and performance based incentives.
The scheme will also augment the availability of advanced care facilities to the people of the state by requiring the insurance company to empanel tertiary care hospitals offering advance cardiac and cancer care services outside Meghalaya. The scheme will also maintain the country-wide portability inherent to the basic RSBY Scheme.
In the second phase, IFC and the World Bank will continue to provide advisory support to the Government for further enhancing the scope of coverage and benefits under the scheme.- Meghalaya Information & Public Relation (MIPR)
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