Punjab CM okays health insurance cover for 9.5 lakh farming families for 2020-21

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday gave the go-ahead to bring a total of 9.5 lakh farmers and their families into the ambit of the health insurance coverage under the ‘Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana for the year 2020-21, as against around 5 lakh covered in the previous year. The scheme has proved to be highly beneficial to people of Punjab during the COVID crisis. The state government has also capped charges for Covid-19 treatment in hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana. The Chief Minister said that the beneficiaries can approach any of the 546 empanelled private hospitals and 208 government hospitals for treatment facility of up to Rs.5 lac for 1396 diseases, including major surgical treatments such as heart surgery, cancer treatment, joint replacement and accident cases under the health insurance scheme. The number of farmers covered during the first year of the scheme stood at around 5 lakh, as these had been issued `J’ forms in 2015 by the Mandi Board. With 8.7 lakh farmers and 80000 cane growers now registered with the Mandi Board as `J’ form holders, having sold their agricultural produce on/after January 1, 2020, and in November 1, 2019-March 31, 2020 sugar season, respectively, the farming families eligible for cover during 2020-21 has now gone up to 9.5 lakh. Also Read | Assam Floods: With 2 more deaths, toll goes up to 68; 48 lakh people affected With the Chief Minister approving their inclusion in the scheme, all the 9.5 lakh will now be covered with effect from August 20, 2020, according to an official spokesperson. -PTC News