Goa govt to raise health insurance cover to Rs two lakh

Parsekar said that ICICI Lombard, which has bagged the contract to implement this scheme for entire Goa population, will be approached with the reworked rates.

"If ICICI Lombard is okay with the reworked rates, then we will continue the agreement with them or else we will have to re-bid it," Parsekar told reporters.

The scheme 'Swarnajayanti Arogya Bima Yojna' was launched by erstwhile Digambar Kamat-led government last year.

It had the provision to empanel the private hospitals where cashless health insurance to the tune of Rs 60,000 per family was provided for all kind of treatments.

Parsekar said the ceiling has been raised to Rs 2 lakh so that all hospitals across the state could be empanelled.

Several private practitioners had expressed their unwillingness to endorse the scheme as it had prescribed a meagre amount for various ailments.

The health minister also said since the universal medical insurance scheme is being reworked, the existing mediclaim scheme implemented by the state government would be disbanded in a phased manner.

Under the Goa government's mediclaim scheme, patients were allowed reimbursement for various health treatments, including those who were admitted outside Goa.

"We can cover those patients who exceed Rs 2 lakh level under government mediclaim scheme. In a phased manner, we will discontinue the government-run-scheme, as it won't be required," the minister added.

The state government has also decided that doctors attached to the government hospitals can be paid additional remuneration depending on the cases handled by them, once universal medical insurance scheme is implemented.

"If doctors are paid well in the government set up, they will not opt for private practice," he said, adding that private hospitals employing government doctors will also be penalised, once the universal medical insurance scheme is reworked.