The Centre has frozen Punjab’s Rs. 400 billion health insurance scheme which targeted both the rich and poor of the country’s most densely populated province.
The project, titled “Implementation of Universal Health Coverage under Health Insurance Program in Punjab,” was presented at a recent Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting which was presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal according to Dawn.
The scheme was blocked after the planning ministry resented the plan citing lender feedback on untargeted subsidies and wasteful expenses.
The meeting was informed that during a couple of meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office and the economic affairs division (EAD) for coordination on flood-related pledges, key emphasis from lenders and donors persisted in devoting funds to those who truly deserve and require external assistance, rather than on those who can afford but prefer public funds.
The planning commission claimed that the initiative of Punjab’s social health insurance had originally envisioned only vulnerable populations earning around $2 per day. The planning ministry also asserted that the initial ECNEC approval of the project was based on certain conditions that had not yet been addressed.
It also argued that Punjab had yet to conduct a study to assess the viability of two parallel channels of universal health insurance and the construction of more public sector hospitals.
The ministry complained that the update of the health policy matrix for both parallel health financing streams was missing, that there was no third-party inspection regime for the assigned hospitals for quality assurance, and that quality of services and removal of missing facilities had not been completed within the time frame specified, and that the legislative framework had not been completed.
Based on the underlined issues, the CDWP decided to block the health insurance plan and send it back for review in order to make a well-informed decision by addressing its weaknesses, duplications, and contradictions.
Pertinently, the four provinces are required to concede Rs. 800 billion to the federal government as cash surplus this year under the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, which is supported by the World Bank and other multilateral institutions, in order to keep the fiscal deficit and primary balance within budgeted targets.
