ISLAMABAD - The government is all set to start the second phase of the Prime Minister’s National Health Programme (PMNHP) from January next year which will provide health insurance to 14 million families.

According to official documents, under the second phase, a total of 14 million families would be covered across the country that would cost Rs 33.629 billion.

The second phase of the health coverage programe would be started from January 1, 2018, and completed by December 31, 2022, the documents stated.

Under the second phase, social health protection (health insurance) against all sorts of health epidemics will be offered to 14 million families earning less than $2 per day.

The first phase of the programme with a cost of Rs 8072.179 million is already under implementation in 36 districts, targeting the poorest of the poor. The second phase health programme is reflected in PSDP 17-18 with a total cost of Rs 10,000 million and an allocation of Rs 7000 million.

“The cost to continue supporting Project Management Units (PMUs) and its human resource for Feferal, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has continued in the current PC-1 of the Federal government,” the documents said.

Financial allocations in health insurance premium reflected in the PC-I are 100 per cent priority care premium for Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, ICT, GB, AJK, and FATA; 100 per cent secondary care premium for ICT, GB, AJK and FATA; 100 per cent excess and over excess of loss premium for ICT, GB, AJK and FATA; a per centage of excess of loss and over excess of loss premium for Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan.

And in case any province is unable to pay its portion of the premium, then the programme shall be implemented in the province by the Federal government subject to the approval of the Prime Minister.

Below the poverty line household database of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has been secured by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and shared with NADRA for extraction of the families.

From the database, it is estimated that a total of 14 million families are up for enrolment for the health insurance programme.

The Central Management Information System (CMIS) of the health programme has been developed by the NADRA and it is providing real-time information to project management regarding enrolment, hospital admissions, discharge, complaints, and satisfaction surveys.

According to the documents, a new household poverty survey of BISP is underway in all provinces and it is expected that the survey will be completed and results will be available during the financial year 2018–19. According to the documents, interventions which have been introduced in phase-II include patient access programmer, family practice programme, assisted technologies, excess and over excess of loss coverage, wage loss benefit, funeral expenses, accidental insurance complaint cell in PMNHP and reproductive health.

Moreover, the documents state that an amount Rs 7000,000 million have been allocated in PSDP (2017-18) aimed at improving the health status of the population by ensuring access to quality health care especially enhancing coverage and access to secondary and priority treatments of the poor and vulnerable population.