Says DDSSY cover is inadequate
AAP Goa president Valmiki Naik and AAP leader Sandesh Teleikar Dessai addressing a press conference in Panaji on Friday.
PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday demanded that the Goa government introduce a universal Rs 10 lakh cashless health insurance scheme for all residents, citing the model recently launched by its government in Punjab.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, AAP Goa president Valmiki Naik said healthcare costs in the State have spiralled, leaving families burdened with debt.
He criticised the BJP government for continuing with the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY), which offers only Rs 2.5 lakh coverage for families of up to three members and Rs 4 lakh for larger families, covering just 447 medical procedures.
In contrast, Naik said Punjab’s Mukhya Mantri Sehat Yojana (MMSY) provides Rs 10 lakh cashless treatment per family per year, with no income cap or exclusion criteria.
The scheme covers over 2,350 treatment packages, including cancer care, cardiac procedures, dialysis, transplants, ICU care, diagnostics, medicines, and pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses.
AAP leaders highlighted key features of the Punjab model: universal eligibility, empanelment of over 850 government and private hospitals, assured payments to hospitals within 15 days, and door-to-door enrolment to ensure complete coverage.
“Goa, being a smaller State, can easily afford and implement a similar scheme if there is political will,” Naik said, adding that the BJP lacks the will to bring change.
AAP leader Sandesh Teleikar Dessai said one major illness can wipe out a family’s lifetime savings.
"If AAP can give Rs 10 lakh health cover in Punjab, why can’t the BJP do the same in Goa?” he asked.
The party demanded that the government upgrade DDSSY to Rs 10 lakh coverage, expand the number of procedures, and empanel more hospitals, even as the leaders reiterated that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and vowed to continue pressing for the demand in and outside the Assembly.
