Thiruvananthapuram: Medisep, the medical insurance scheme for state government employees and pensioners in Kerala, is yet to take off even though the government’s tenure is set to end next year.
It has been two months since a committee, set up by the government to implement revisions in the scheme, recommended to include COVID-19 in the insurance cover. The committee also proposed to increase the treatment cost to attract more hospitals to the project. However, the government is yet to take any action.
The government initiated the insurance scheme, as per the recommendations in the 10th Pay Commission's report. The project was announced in the 2018-19 Budget and a tender was invited the next year.
The aim was to implement the project while seeking a premium of Rs 250 from employees and Rs 300 from pensioners as monthly premium.
Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd was awarded the contract. But the hospitals refused to cooperate due to the low cost for treatment fixed by the government. Thus, the government was forced to cancel the contract.
Then the officials' committee was constituted to revise the project.
However, with the current financial situation, the state is unlikely to allocate funds for the project.
The Medisep would have benefited 11 lakh people. However, with the scheme in limbo, the only option for employees is to claim medical reimbursement. But if they had undergone treatment at private hospitals, employees will have to wait for up to a year to avail the reimbursement
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