FM reviews insurance scheme for health workers, calls for speedy settlement of claims

Of the 147 intimations received till date, claim documents have been submitted for 87, out of which 15 have been paid, four approved for payment while 13 are under examination.
FM reviews insurance scheme for health workers, calls for speedy settlement of claims
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday chaired a meeting to review the implementation of the insurance scheme for health workers fighting Covid-19, as announced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP).

The meeting, through video conferencing, was attended by senior officials from Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the New India Assurance Company Ltd.

A presentation was made by the Chairman & Managing Director of New India Assurance providing details about the highlight of the scheme and its status of implementation as on date.

Officials from Ministry of Health & Family Welfare provided an overview of the mechanism being followed with states' nodal authorities to expedite the claims, also highlighting the issues being faced while reaching out to the family of deceased as well as obtaining the legal heir certificate.

Of the 147 intimations received till date, claim documents have been submitted for 87, out of which 15 have been paid, four approved for payment while 13 are under examination.

Further, a total of 55 claims have been found ineligible out of which 35 claims fall outside the scope of the cover like police personnel, municipal workers not related to hospitals, people from Education, Revenue Departments, etc. while another 20 claims submitted have the cause of death other than Covid-19 like cardiac arrest, etc.

During the meeting, the Finance Minister highlighted the importance for a speedy settlement and the benefit reaching the nominees at the earliest.

The minister also pushed for stringent follow-up action with states, where the subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is pending, to ensure payment of all pending claims to farmers at the earliest.

During a review meeting of the crop insurance scheme, she also highlighted the need of carrying out awareness activities about the scheme in view of it becoming voluntary for all farmers and stressed on the need for states to release the premium subsidy on time to ensure timely settlement of claims.

A presentation was also given by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare wherein the journey of the scheme since Kharif 2016 as well as challenges encountered and the status of implementation for the current Kharif 2020 crop season, especially after the scheme's revamp were discussed.

The meeting was attended by Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal, senior officials from Department of Financial Services, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, general insurance companies implementing the scheme and scheduled commercial banks.

Agarwal said that leveraging technology was one of the main focus areas in the revamped PMFBY and the Department was working towards migrating to technology assessment of yield by 2023 and survey would be conducted after Rabi 2020-21 to ascertain the impact of the revamped scheme.

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