SHILLONG: Enrolment of names for the third phase of the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) will start from June 1, said Health Secretary H.M Shangpliang.
Addressing a gathering at a state-level workshop on ‘MHIS and Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme’ on Monday, Shangpliang, who is also the MHIS CEO, said the scheme will start from July 1.
He added that MHIS-III will give people better options and at the same time an opportunity to the State Government to widen the coverage of the health scheme.
Health Minister Roshan Warjri, who was present at the workshop, expressed her gratitude to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda for approving the scheme.
Expressing concern over complaints from beneficiaries, Warjri said challenges in implementing the scheme have to be addressed.
“There has to be help desks in all empanelled hospitals to assist MHIS card holders as we hear complaints from people in getting their schemes,” she said as she stressed on training and capacity building of all stakeholders.
On the delay in getting premiums and settlement of claims, she said, “There has to be a close coordination between the insurance company and third parties.”
Better coverage
The second phase of the state health insurance ended in October 2016 and there was delay in the rollout of the third phase due to some modifications aimed at improving the quality of the scheme, it was informed.
The workshop was attended by stakeholders who were instrumental in implementing the first two phases. Shangpliang said the third phase has increased the insurance cover up to Rs 2,80,000 with an additional coverage of Rs 30,000 for each senior citizen who are under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.
The numbers of beneficiaries in the first and the second phases were 1,99,815 and 3,46,548, respectively, but the health secretary said there is a need to extend the coverage. He urged deputy commissioners to monitor the enrolment procedure to ensure that no beneficiary is left out. MHIS-III covers up to five members of a family and each family has to pay Rs 50 at the time of registration. The scheme has more than 1,700 packages as well as senior citizen packages. The insurance cover is according to the different pre-approved package rates provided in accordance to the different diseases.
A beneficiary can opt for up to Rs 2,50,000 benefit at one go for hospitalisation under critical care. The State Government has recently signed an MoU with Delhi-based New India Assurance Company, a general insurance company, to roll out MHIS-III.
Website launch
Warjri also launched the official MHIS website during the workshop. Beneficiaries can interact with officials on the website and check their names on the list.
MHIS-III utilises the existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana framework to provide health insurance to all citizens of Meghalaya, including the existing categories of RBSY beneficiaries except for the state and central government employees.
