Himachal Govt to Launch ₹10 Lakh Health Insurance Scheme: Check Premium, Eligibility Details
Health Insurance: The Himachal Pradesh government is set to launch a new health insurance scheme offering up to ₹10 lakh in medical coverage.
Himachal Pradesh is rolling out a ₹10 lakh health insurance scheme to expand affordable healthcare access.
New Delhi – Health Insurance: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday announced that the state government will introduce a new health insurance policy offering coverage of up to ₹10 lakh to economically weaker families, during a high-level meeting of the Health Department held in Shimla. The Chief Minister said the policy would extend to nearly 10 lakh families across the state and would make Himachal Pradesh the first state in the country to offer such comprehensive coverage at a nominal premium, according to an official statement.
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Health Insurance: What CM Sukhu Announced
Chairing the meeting, Sukhu said no needy person in the state should be deprived of better medical facilities due to financial constraints. He stated that under the proposed policy, poor families would receive health insurance coverage of up to ₹10 lakh at a highly affordable premium. He added that leading multi-speciality and tertiary care hospitals would be empanelled under the scheme so that families are not deprived of advanced medical treatment because of economic constraints.
The Chief Minister also said the government plans to upgrade medical equipment and radiology departments in state hospitals in line with AIIMS standards, and that diagnostic services are being modernised through automation to enable faster, hassle-free testing.
Advocate General Anoop Rattan, Chief Secretary K.K. Pant, Principal Secretary (Finance) Devesh Kumar, Secretary (Health) Ashish Singhmar, and other senior officers attended the meeting, according to reports.
Health Insurance: Who Will Be Covered
The government said the scheme will bring nearly 10 lakh families “belonging to various sections of society” under its ambit. The state has not yet released a detailed eligibility framework, income-based categories, or an enrolment process for the new scheme. Further eligibility, empanelment, and premium details are expected once the policy is formally notified.
Health Insurance Premium: What’s Confirmed, What Isn’t
The government has said the ₹10 lakh cover will be available at a “highly affordable” or “nominal” premium, but it has not yet disclosed the exact premium amount, payment structure, or subsidy break-up. These details have not been officially notified as of this report.
For context, Himachal Pradesh’s existing state health scheme, HIMCARE (Mukhya Mantri Himachal Health Care Scheme), currently offers cashless treatment coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year on a floater basis for up to five members.
HIMCARE has operated on a co-payment model since its January 2019 launch, with premium rates varying by beneficiary category — non-government families have paid an annual premium in the range of ₹365, while the government-employee category has paid around ₹1,000, according to scheme information published on government-linked and insurance advisory platforms.
If the new ₹10 lakh scheme follows a similar tiered, co-payment structure, premiums for the enhanced cover could be set with reference to these existing HIMCARE bands — though this remains speculative until the state notifies actual figures.
HIMCARE itself is meant for residents not covered under the central Ayushman Bharat–PM-JAY scheme, including families with annual income between ₹1.8 lakh and ₹3 lakh, BPL families excluded from the PM-JAY list, MGNREGA workers, and registered construction workers, among other categories, as per scheme documentation. It is not yet clear whether the new ₹10 lakh policy will replace HIMCARE, run alongside it, or represent an enhancement of the existing scheme’s sum insured.
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Health Insurance: How It Compares With Other State Schemes
Himachal’s announcement follows a broader trend of states expanding health cover beyond the ₹5 lakh central PM-JAY benchmark. Punjab, for instance, is preparing to roll out a universal health cover of ₹10 lakh per family per year for all 65 lakh families in the state, with a Sehat card-based cashless model at government and empanelled private hospitals, according to state government officials cited in regional media reports. That scheme was allocated ₹778 crore in Punjab’s 2025-26 budget and is expected to be implemented through an empanelled insurer within three months of formal approval.
Health Insurance: What Happens Next
The Himachal Pradesh government is yet to issue a formal notification, scheme guidelines, or launch date for the ₹10 lakh policy. Enrolment procedures, hospital empanelment lists, and premium slabs are expected to follow once the Health Department finalises the framework. The Insurance Reporter will update this article as further details are officially confirmed.
