Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio launches Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme

KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday launched the first of its kind Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS).

The scheme was launched at Chief Minister's State Banquet Hall, CMRC, Kohima, with the CEO of National Health Authority, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr RS Sharma as the guest of honour and the Chief Minister as the special guest. Delivering the keynote address, Chief Secretary of Nagaland J Alam informed that the Oriental Insurance Company Limited will be the insurance partner with whom the Government has already signed the agreement. With the Nagaland Sustainable Development Goal Vision 2030 launched in August, 2021, envisaging that by 2030, Nagaland will provide equitable, affordable and quality healthcare services to the people of the State, the CS stated that CMHIS is a major step towards fulfilling this vision.

He informed that the Government held multiple consultations with various stakeholders in the State as well as outside the State, and inputs from experts across the country, and came up with a Health Benefit Package that they hope will ensure a balanced and equitable access to quality healthcare for all.

Alam further stated, "CMHIS can only be a success if all the stakeholders, including the district administration, hospitals both public and private in the State, insurance partner and the people implementing the scheme through the Nagaland Health Protection Society and the Department of Health & Family Welfare, work collaboratively and hand in hand, to bring the benefit to all the citizens in the State."

Terming the launch of the CMHIS as a significant milestone, Dr RS Sharma, who delivered his address live from Delhi, stated that with the launch of CMHIS, Nagaland will become the second State in North-East to have universal health coverage, taking India forward to realizing its Sustainable Development Goal of universal health access. Informing that around 12,000 hospitalizations were recorded in NHA-IT platform, and with the CMHIS scheme to be launched in the NHA-IT platform, he assured that it is robust, scalable and can record millions of processes of the healthcare system.

Addressing the launching programme, Chief Minister Rio stated that the CMHIS covering the entire population of the State will expand the coverage of insurance benefits, over and above those being covered under Prime Minister's Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Under the scheme, the CM stated that the people of the State will have an assurance of better access to healthcare services than they had ever before. Pointing out that for any illness that requires hospitalization results in substantial expenditure, which may not be within the means of the family, Rio expressed hope that the scheme will help prevent such hardships.

He stated that Government servants on regular employment and serving legislators and their families will not have to go through the tedious and long process of medical reimbursement as they can avail treatment in a cashless manner.

Rio further appealed to all the beneficiaries to enroll themselves on the online enrollment portal which is open now. In case they are not able to self-enroll, they should avail the free assistance that is being provided during the next fortnight all over the State at designated locations for e-verification. He also appealed to all hospitals to immediately enroll on the online portal so that they are able to provide services immediately.

Stating that a remarkable achievement has been made in the history of Nagaland by launching the CMHIS, Minister, Health & Family Welfare, Pangnyu Phom said that people with the least means not only have greater health problems but are less accessible to health care due to inability to afford hospitalization expenses. (ANI)

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