islamabad - Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination and chairperson of PM’s National  Health Insurance Program (PMNHIP) has convened the first meeting of the National Steering Committee of PMNHIP on Tuesday (23 Sept).
This meeting will be attended by all members of the Steering Committee, including representatives from all provinces, ICT, AJK, GB, FATA and technical experts in the field. The meeting will take stock of the health insurance and social protection scenario in the country. Various aspects of the proposed scheme will be discussed and deliberated upon in context of the role of Federal and Provincial governments in implementation of the programme, including payment modules for the premium shares by the respective governments, said a press release which issued here sunday. The scheme will be a model project, jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments but implemented by respective provinces. It will be rolled out in phases, with the 1st phase covering about 10m individuals living below the poverty line across the country.  Complete set of health care services for catastrophic illnesses, ranging from secondary to tertiary care, will be provided with an objective to reduce “Out of Pocket” expenses by poor.
Thus the programme is being envisaged as a step towards universal health coverage.