Each state may charge different Ayushman Bharat premiums; Chhattisgarh first to launch tender

The insurance premium for Ayushman Bharat scheme, the world’s largest health insurance scheme that aims to cover around 50 crore Indians, will vary from state to state. Actually, the premiums will be decided through the tender process.  

The premium of each state will be based on the tender conditions of the state and the population that will be covered under the scheme. The insurer providing lowest minimum premium per family will be declared as a winner of the bid.  

The first such tender for the scheme has been released by Chhattisgarh. The tender bid has been floated for the period of August 15, 2018, to August 14, 2019.  

"Chhattisgarh has come out with the tender and rest of the states will be releasing trends on their parts in next 2-3 weeks", says KG Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD & CEO, Future Generali Insurance. He added, "tender conditions are based on the discussions between the insurance companies, government and other stakeholders but the premium of Rs 1200 is to low".  

Earlier, there were reports that the premium amount for the scheme will be fixed around Rs 1200. But the release of tender from Chhattisgarh has put an end to those rumours.  

The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared between Central and State Governments in a specified ratio of 60:40. Ayushman Bharat will cover around 11 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.  

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The government says that the scheme is going to be a gamechanger for the poor families of the country. However, the private insurance companies are not too excited about the scheme.