CDWP gives go-ahead to health insurance scheme worth Rs332bn

October 26, 2021: Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Monday considered two projects worth of Rs345.626 billion and recommended to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.

The meeting of the committee was presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan and was attended by Secretary Planning Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh and senior officials from Planning Commission and federal ministries/divisions.

A project related to health was presented in the meeting namely “Implementation of Universal Health Coverage under health insurance programme in Punjab” worth Rs 332.844.878 billion recommended to ECNEC for further consideration.

The main objective of the programme includes insurance scheme coverage for 100% population of Punjab for its permanent residents as per CNIC issued by NADRA.

The scheme will provide cashless in-patient healthcare secondary and priority care services through an open enrollment policy.

There is no limit to family size. The health insurance programme is a hospitalization scheme mainly; daycare admission will also be covered in the programme. Household members of the family will be able to avail the health cover including accessing the secondary care hospitalization component including maternity benefits.

Another project related to Higher Education Commission was presented in the meeting namely “Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP)- Revised” worth Rs12.782 billion that was recommenced by the forum to ECNEC for further approval.

The period of completion and expected date of completion is 60 months. The main objective of the projects is to focus on low and equitable participation for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; poor quality of teaching and research conditions (including inadequate and irrelevant research, and limited links between HEIs and the industrial and services sectors of the economy); below-par institutional governance and management, especially lack the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS), which severely complicates long-term sectoral and institutional planning, monitoring, and accountability. These challenges are particularly exacerbated for affiliated colleges; Technical assistance Higher education policy development and Capacity building through partnerships, regulation and funding of higher education sector and project management monitoring and evaluation, and Higher Education Data Repository and Data-Driven Services.

Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission directed all officials concerned to ensure the completion of the projects within the timelines, as the project is crucial for the socioeconomic well-being of the people of Pakistan.

APP