TN CM covers 50 per cent of people below poverty line

Around 50 per cent of people living below poverty line (BPL) in Tamil Nadu would be covered by the chief minister's Health Insurance Scheme over the next six to twelve months, a top government official said today.

"The state has around two crore BPL line familes. About 90 per cent of one crore families have already been covered under the scheme. The rest will be covered over the next six to twelve months", Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer  Protection secretary K Shanmugam said at a function here.

Stating that healthcare has become "unaffordable" for the common man, he said the system in health care has become so complicated that the common man was not able to "afford" it.

The "clause" practised in filling up policies was "difficult" to a common man, he observed.

He said despite private companies entering into the fray, the health care system was considered as "commercial".

The public should be "educated" on health insurance schemes and should also be made "responsible", he added.

Shanmugam was here to participate in the seminar on "Responsibilities and Rights of Consumers in Medical Insurance" organised by Consumer Association of India (CAI) and Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).