The State government will consider pleas to include ageing parents of government employees and those in local bodies under the purview of the health insurance scheme meant for pensioners in the State, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam told the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
During his reply to DMK MLA G. Anbalagan (Kumbakonam) during the question hour, Mr. Panneerselvam (handling the Finance portfolio) said the request would be considered and a decision taken after consulting the Chief Minister.
The Deputy Chief Minister said he would consider another request by DMK MLA K. Pitchandi (Kilpennathur) to speed up monthly board meetings that reviews the requests from patients who need kidney transplantation.
Mr. Panneerselvam said the health insurance scheme for pensioners was jointly implemented with the public sector United India Insurance and MD India, a private company.
With a premium of ₹350 each, the scheme covered 7.30 lakh pensioners and family pensioners with a network of 988 hospitals, including some in Delhi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Puducherry.
In 2019-20, ₹297.68 crore premium was paid to the insurance companies and 2.01 lakh pensioners benefited with treatment cost totalling ₹578 crore.
