Thiruvananthapuram: Medisep, a comprehensive health insurance scheme of the State government for government employees and pensioners and their dependents, has in the 10 months since its launch benefited more than the initial number of people estimated, Minister for Finance K.N. Balagopal has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a mobile application devised by the Finance department to make Medisep more user-friendly here on Monday.
Mr. Balagopal said it was expected that two lakh people would make use of Medisep in 10 months. However, health-care coverage to the tune of ₹591 crore had been provided to 2.2 lakh beneficiaries so far. “This is a historical event.”
The Minister claimed that nowhere in the world was there any health insurance scheme equivalent to Medisep. A scheme that benefited people in the 21-104 age bracket, charged a premium of Rs.500 a month, and provided coverage for more than 1,000 illnesses was the first in the world, he said.
In all, the scheme had approved medical treatment to the tune of ₹591.42 crore in 2.2 lakh claims. Of these, 18,153 claims were settled in the government sector, amounting to a coverage of ₹39.52 crore. In the private health sector, over 2.02 lakh claims were settled, with a coverage of ₹551 crore.
Among catastrophic illness package claims under the scheme, ₹38.18 crore had been dispensed in 1,853 claims.
Hospital, treatment expenses were very high across the world. Non-resident Keralites depended on hospitals here for affordable dental treatment even. It was against this backdrop that the health insurance scheme that benefited nearly 31 lakh people for such a low premium was drawn up, the Minister said
The State government, he said, was taking up projects aimed at transforming Kerala into a health hub. More activities, including development of health infrastructure, would be implemented towards this goal, he said. This had to be done keeping in mind that the population of the elderly was on the rise in the State, while that of employed youth was on the decline.
Government, private, cooperative, and autonomous hospitals that associated with Medisep and put up a good performance; R.R. Singh, chairman and managing director of Oriental Insurance Company that is implementing the scheme; and government employees received appreciation certificates from the Minister.
Minister for Transport Antony Raju presided over the function. The mobile app is being rolled out to aid the expansion of the scheme amd for easy accessibility to information on it to its beneficiaries.
