HYDERABAD: At a time when it is facing severe financial difficulties and struggling to even pay salaries to its employees, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to renew the medical insurance of all 150 corporators and their families under a group mediclaim insurance policy from the first week of June.
This insurance scheme will provide coverage for hospitalisation expenses up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year. The scheme will cover the corporators, their spouse, two dependent children, and any two dependents -- either parents or mother-in-law and father-in-law. The GHMC will pay the annual premium of around Rs 65-Rs 70 lakh using taxpayers’ money.
The insurance policy will also cover the 15 GHMC co-option members once they are elected, and the premium will be paid by the civic body as per guidelines of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
The mediclaim scheme will provide coverage for hospitalisation expenses for each and every member of the family on a floater basis. This means that the total reimbursement of Rs 5 lakhs can be availed either by one individual or collectively by all members of the family.
The insurance broking company will pay the hospital or daycare centre directly, or reimburse the insured person for medical treatment or surgery incurred in India. Such a privilege is presently granted to MPs and MLAs.
The civic body invited tenders from insurance companies for the purpose. If services of the insurance broking companies are found to be satisfactory after one year, the policy can be extended for a further period of one year in two spells of six months each, with the mutual consent of both parties.
A few corporators have justified the medical insurance cover by claiming that they risk their health daily as they address the people’s grievances from time to time.
As of April 12, 2023, about 59 medical cases have been reported, covering an amount of Rs 80,93,943. Of these cases, claims have been paid for 41 patients (Rs 47,09,473) while 10 claims (Rs 8,07,798) have been rejected, and eight claims (Rs 11,32,708) are outstanding.
The current mediclaim policy period is from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, and it covers a total of 708 members, including 150 corporators and 558 dependents.
Policy also covers parents or in-laws
The insurance scheme will provide coverage for hospitalisation expenses up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year. The scheme will cover the corporators, their spouse, two dependent children, and any two dependents -- either parents or mother-in-law and father-in-law. The policy will also cover the 15 GHMC co-option members once they are elected, and the premium will be paid by the civic body as per guidelines of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.