PANAJI
The Directorate of Health Services has, on Friday, re-floated for the fifth time, a tender seeking bids from insurance companies dealing with health insurance for implementing the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana, this time calling for bids only from State run insurance companies.
Speaking to The Goan, Deputy Director (Public Health) Dr José D’Sa said that this time the department had invited only State-run insurance companies and hence would expect a better response from the bidders.
“We have uploaded the tender with the entire timeline today itself. Unlike earlier instances, this time only State-run and State-owned health insurance companies will be eligible to bid for the tender,” Dr D’Sa said speaking on Friday.
He said that the previous attempts failed not because of lack of response from the private players, but because they had “too many queries” and hence the tender process had to be postponed.
“The system of using State-run companies has been found to be successful in several States. This time we expect a better response from the bidders,” Dr D’Sa told The Goan.
This is the fifth time the Directorate of Health Services is floating a tender inviting companies for its universal health insurance scheme.
On earlier occasions the government had floated tenders twice in 2014 as well as in March and November of 2015 but the tender process didn’t reach the bidding stage as the amount of queries from the potential bidders overwhelmed the department as it got busy answering the queries raised.
In its current form, the scheme envisages disbursing benefits on a cashless basis to beneficiaries up to the limit of their annual coverage. Currently, the Insurance cover shall be up to ₹ 2.5 lakh per annum for a family of three or less members and up to ₹ 4 lakh for a family of four and more members. The Insurance benefits can be availed individually or collectively by members of the family.
Pre-existing medical conditions are to be covered from day one, subject to a few exclusions
Under no case the claim would exceed ₹ 4 lakh annually.The insurance companies had raised queries with regard to the information of the insured that the government will provide to them, whether there will be a cap on hospitalisation room charges and several other technical issues that have come up.
