The announcement was made as part of a set of healthcare measures unveiled by the Tamil Nadu government.
Vijay said the government aims to reduce financial barriers to medical treatment and described healthcare as a fundamental right.
What is CMCHIS?
The Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme is a Tamil Nadu government health insurance programme aimed at providing cashless treatment to eligible families through empanelled hospitals.
According to the scheme’s official website, families with annual income below ₹1.2 lakh are eligible under the general category. Beneficiaries need an income certificate along with their family ration card and Aadhaar for enrolment.
The existing PM-JAY-CMCHIS framework provides cashless treatment at empanelled hospitals.
What changes now?
The annual insurance coverage is set to increase from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh. This means eligible beneficiaries will have a substantially higher coverage ceiling for covered medical treatment under the scheme.
However, the ₹25 lakh figure should not be treated as an unrestricted cash benefit. CMCHIS operates through specified treatment packages and empanelled hospitals, with treatment provided subject to the scheme’s rules and package rates.
The official scheme documents also provide for cashless treatment rather than reimbursement of expenses directly to beneficiaries.
The government is yet to provide, in the announcement reported on Wednesday (August 19), the full operational details of the enhanced ₹25 lakh cover, including the effective date, revised package list and whether any other eligibility or claim conditions will change.
-With PTI inputs
