Health insurance to be withdrawn from govt hospitals

LAHORE: The Universal Health Insurance (UHI) in public sector hospitals of Punjab is going to be closed by the end of the current fiscal year. The Punjab Health Initiatives Management Company (PHIMC) notified that, as per approval of competent authority, the implementation of Universal Health Insurance (UHI), in public sector hospitals is going to be closed on 30.06.2025. However, the special initiatives launched by the Chief Minister Punjab will continue as per current policy. In the connection, PHIMC has directed all the Medical Superintendents under the administrative control of Specialized Health Care & Medical Education Department (SHC&MED) and Health & Population Department (H&PD) to ensure the timely submission of all pending claims under the UHI.

The deadline for uploading all claims is 30.06.2025. “The State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) will not entertain any pending claims after this date,” said Punjab Health Initiative Company (PHIMC). When con-tacted, PHIMC CEO Dr Ali Razzaque could not be available for his comments. However, a senior PHIMC official told The News that the services only under Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP) in public sector hos-pitals will be closed. The government hospitals will provide the services as per their previous mandate. The services under SSP will continue to be implemented in private sector hospitals in the province. He added that the other programmes with enhanced features like dialysis, transplant, Children Heart Surgery will remain functional in both public and private hospitals in Punjab.