By Tendar Tsering
DHARAMSHALA, April 3: The Department of Health under the Central Tibetan Administration formally launched the Tibetan Medicare System here in Dharmashala, the exile seat of Tibet, Monday.
According to the Department, the Medicare System is aimed at providing “equitable and comprehensive” health care coverage on yearly basis to the entire Tibetan exile community by creating a more sustainable financing source.
A nonprofit and charitable programme, the system also seeks to improve public health and well-being of the Tibetan community in-exile through access to “quality secondary and tertiary healthcare.”
“This is not like other health insurance schemes,” Dr Tsering Wangchuk, Health minister told reporters at the launch. “This is like social scheme for the public and not for business.”
However, the department also made clear that the CTA will stop providing “any other subsidy” for health after the launch of the Tibetan Medicare System.
817 Tibetan families from 33 settlements in India have already enrolled in this first ever initiative of its kind in the exile Tibetan community.
The health department said it is planning to provide the health scheme to Tibetan refugees living in Nepal.
“We are thinking of branching out the health insurance to Tibetans living in Nepal,” Dr Wangchuk said.
The minister informed that his department will not reach out to Tibetan refugees living in Bhutan with the medicare system as the government there is providing “fairly good” health benefits to Tibetans.
As per the Medicare System, a family with two to five members will have to pay INR 3565.00 and an extra INR 713.00 per year for each additional member to avail cashless benefits up to INR 100,000.00. This includes the cost of hospitalisaton, medicines prescribed and bought within one month of discharge from the hospital.
Single families will have to pay INR 950.00 to avail cashless benefits up to INR 50,000.00 annually for hospitalisation expenses at selected hospitals.
Under the medicare system, claims related to alcohol and substance abuse, birth control or pregnancy prevention, vaccination, cost of injuries related with fighting, and treatment after attempting suicide will not be covered.
The Tibetan Medicare System is co-sponsored by MIA (Micro Insurance Academy), Malteser International and Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
