4.5 lakh more Punjab farmers to get health cover

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh gave a go-ahead to bring an additional 4.5 lakh farmers and their families into the ambit of health insurance cover under the Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana from the year 2020-21.

The scheme, which was launched by the state government on August 20, 2019, covered 5 lakh families in the year of its launch. It proved beneficial for the people of Punjab during the Covid crisis. The state government has also capped Covid-19 treatment charges in hospitals empanelled under the yojana.

The beneficiaries could approach any of the 546 empanelled private hospitals and 208 government hospitals for treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh for 1,396 diseases, including heart surgery, cancer, joint replacement and accident cases.

The board will pay the entire premium for the insurance cover of the farmers, who will get cashless treatment facility up to Rs 5 lakh per annum.

Ayushman Bharat - Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY), a flagship state health insurance scheme for the beneficiaires of State of Punjab. AB-SSBY will provide financial protection to 75% population of state of Punjab. It is entitlement based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 5 Lakh per family per year. Under this scheme, cashless and paperless treatment is available at government and empanelled private hospitals.

The cost of premium for 14.86 lakh SECC beneficiary families shall be borne by Central Govt. and State Govt. in 60:40 ratio. The premium cost of remaining 31.03 lakh beneficiary families shall be completely borne by the State (state treasury & departments).