Centre extends Covid-19 insurance scheme for healthcare workers

In what could be good news, the Central government has increased the deadline for availing of complementary healthcare insurance for Covid-19 frontline workers by another six months of 180 days from April 19. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced the extension of the insurance scheme, known as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), on Tuesday (April 19).

The health ministry said in its statement that the scheme has been extended to continue providing the safety net to the dependents of health workers who are deputed to take care of Covid-19 patients.

The Central government had launched PMGKP on March 30, 2020, to provide a security cover to workers battling Covid-19. The scheme offers an assurance to the families of 22.12 lakh healthcare providers.

The scheme covers “community health workers and private health workers who may have been in direct contact and care of Covid-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted,” the ministry noted.

Under the policy, a cover of Rs 50 lakh is provided to healthcare workers helping in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. As of now, 1,905 claims have been made under the scheme from the families of health workers, who died while performing Covid-19 duty, have been settled, the ministry said.

“Further, on account of the unprecedented situation, private hospital staff/retired/volunteer/local urban bodies/contract/daily wage/ad-hoc/outsourced staff requisitioned by states/central hospitals/autonomous hospitals of central/states/UTs, AIIMS & institute of National Importance/hospitals of central ministries drafted for the care of Covid-19 patients are also covered under the PMGKP,” the ministry statement noted.

It is important to note that the government has extended the PMGKP policy by another 180 days.  Zee News