CMCHIS: No New Cards Needed as Tamil Nadu Rolls Out ₹25-Lakh Cover
Tamil Nadu expands CMCHIS coverage to ₹25 lakh, offering enhanced health insurance protection to eligible beneficiaries.
Health Minister Arunraj says beneficiaries can continue using their existing CMCHIS cards without applying for new ones.
CMCHIS: Tamil Nadu Health Minister K.G. Arunraj said on Wednesday (August 26, 2026) that the recently announced increase in insurance coverage under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh, will be implemented soon. Beneficiaries will not need new insurance cards and can continue using their existing ones, he said.
Arunraj made the remarks shortly after inaugurating two renovated lecture halls at Madras Medical College in Chennai, according to a press release.
CMCHIS: Premium Won’t Rise Fivefold, Says Minister
Arunraj said the fivefold increase in coverage, from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh, does not mean the insurance premium will also rise fivefold, since the number of families requiring advanced treatment and filing claims is likely to be lower. Necessary funds will be allocated for the expanded scheme, he said.
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CMCHIS: Other Announcements at the Same Event
At the same event, Arunraj said in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment centres, whose expansion to more district government hospitals was announced in the state budget, are being extended at a fast pace. He also said the shortage of chemotherapy drugs would be reviewed and appropriate action taken.
On public health, the Minister said there was no cause for concern over H1N1 influenza and dengue cases, noting that infections this year have been concentrated between May and July, compared with January-April last year, and attributed part of the rise in reported cases to increased fever testing. He said all necessary precautionary measures had been taken at government hospitals, and urged the public to prevent water stagnation around homes during the monsoon season to curb transmission by Aedes mosquitoes. Fever camps will be conducted for school students, he said, advising anyone with fever accompanied by headache, vomiting, or severe body pain to seek immediate medical attention at the nearest government hospital or primary health centre.
CMCHIS: Lecture Halls Renovated at ₹1.50 Crore
The two lecture halls inaugurated at Madras Medical College were renovated at a combined cost of ₹1.50 crore, one with support from the Rotary Club and the other using government funds, according to the release. The halls have been fitted with digital LED panel projection systems and acoustic panelling to support presentations, medical imaging, videos, and clinical discussions for medical students.
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CMCHIS: Background: The ₹25-Lakh Cover Announcement
The CMCHIS coverage increase from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh per family was announced in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on August 19 under Rule 110. Wednesday’s statement is the first confirmation from the Health Minister that implementation of the revised cover is imminent, and that no card renewal process will be required of existing beneficiaries.
The August 19 announcement was part of a broader healthcare package presented in the Assembly. It included an allocation of ₹300 crore for a 400-bed multi-super-speciality hospital in Perambur, North Chennai, and a ₹677.44-crore boost to the Chief Minister’s Cancer Care Mission, covering a new integrated cancer treatment unit at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai and five regional cancer centres, including in Thanjavur, Coimbatore, and Madurai. The government also announced plans to extend specialised medical and surgical services for transgender persons at seven government medical college hospitals, in Chennai, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Chengalpattu, Tiruvarur, Dharmapuri, and Kanniyakumari.
Separately, a related elderly health insurance scheme for CMCHIS beneficiaries aged 70 and above, expected to cover roughly 38 lakh senior citizens, was announced as part of the state’s healthcare package presented in the Assembly on August 17.
CMCHIS, launched in 2009 as the Kalaignar Kaappathu Thittam, currently covers close to 1.45 crore families in Tamil Nadu and is implemented through United India Insurance Company Limited. It has separately been dovetailed with the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). Until Wednesday, multiple reports on the August 19 announcement had noted that the revised ₹25-lakh limit would take effect only once the state issued a formal government order specifying the effective date; the Health Minister’s remarks did not specify whether such an order has now been issued.
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