Now Reading: Karnataka Cabinet approves Sandhya Kiran cashless healthcare for pensioners
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Karnataka Cabinet approves Sandhya Kiran cashless healthcare for pensioners
Karnataka Cabinet approves Sandhya Kiran cashless healthcare for pensioners
The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved the 'Sandhya Kiran' cashless healthcare scheme for state pensioners under 70, family pensioners and their dependents. Initially covering 4.93 lakh beneficiaries, including 3.11 lakh pensioners, the…
The Story in Brief
The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved the 'Sandhya Kiran' cashless healthcare scheme for state pensioners under 70, family pensioners and their dependents. Initially covering 4.93 lakh beneficiaries, including 3.11 lakh pensioners, the scheme provides annual cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per family at empanelled hospitals under Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka rules.
Contributions are 1.25 per cent of basic pension for service pensioners and 0.75 per cent for family pensioners. Annual contributions are estimated at Rs 117 crore against a treatment cost of Rs 81.75 crore, with 70 per cent from beneficiaries and 30 per cent from the state. A trigger auto-increases premiums by 0.05 percentage points if corpus use exceeds 85 per cent.
The Indian Opinion
Some will call this a 'free' healthcare scheme, but it is contributory and requires annual premiums. The real test is whether the Rs 117 crore corpus can sustain rising hospital costs without frequent premium hikes. Watch for the utilisation trigger: if it crosses 85 per cent, contribution rates go up. Will pensioners accept that burden? Or will the state step in more? The numbers in a year will answer.
Sources (2): telanganatoday.com, deccanherald.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
