-The Hindu Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Seven lakh pensioners and family pensioners of the State government will be brought under the fold of a new health insurance scheme. To be operated on the lines of an insurance scheme for serving government officials and the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, the proposed scheme would operate on a cashless basis and it would be made compulsory to all the pensioners (including spouse) / family...

-The Telegraph Networks of private hospitals across India today said they would stop providing cashless services to beneficiaries of government-funded healthcare schemes from January 15 next year, citing delays in payments and "low" charges set by the government. Members of the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) said beneficiaries of the Central Government Health Scheme would need to pay for any treatment they seek from that date onwards and seek reimbursement...

-The Hindu The Union Ministry of Labour has done well to raise the salary cap for availing Employees' State Insurance (ESI) to Rs.25,000. While the move is expected to expand coverage to an additional five million workers and their dependents, this is still small comfort in a country where barely three per cent of the workforce enjoys any social protection. The evolution of ESI has been characterised by an accent...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a dramatic reversal of the trend that existed just three years ago, big corporate hospitals today charge health insurance card holders much less than those paying in cash for the same procedures. Those paying out of their pockets are now billed anywhere between 25% and 60% more than those with Cashless Health Insurance schemes. TOI did a comparative study of the amounts charged from the...

-Frontline The National Advisory Council recommendations seem to be making a strong case for a major role for the private sector in the delivery of health care. THE recommendations for universal health coverage drawn up by the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, push for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health delivery system but not for any inbuilt mechanisms for accountability. The NAC also...