Agartala, Feb 7 (Reporter) Promoted by Ayushman Bharat under Prime Minister-Jana Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the Tripura government has announced the launch of a universal health insurance scheme for families who missed out on PM-JAY this financial year. The state government spokesperson and Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said on Wednesday, in a meeting of the council of ministers last week, cleared the nod for the scheme, which was announced by the finance minister in the budget speech last year. The scheme - Chief Minister-Jana Arogya Yojana (CM-JAY), is targeted to cover 4.15 lakh families, irrespective of income bar, and aims at ensuring universal treatment facilities for all. Initially, in the budget, Rs 59 crore was allocated for the scheme, but in the implementation phase, the amount has been increased to Rs 104 crore in the revised estimate. “Barring 10,000 odd workers registered with the Labour Department and another around 4.5 lakh families that are registered under PM-JAY, every family is eligible for the benefits under CM-JAY to get medical coverage up to Rs 5 lakh health insurance per annum,” Chowdhury stated. The whole process would be cashless, and patients under this scheme would get free medicines from the hospital for 15 days on being discharged after any critical illness, he pointed out, adding, “The benefits of the scheme are extended in 26,000 empaneled hospitals across the country; all the hospitals that provide treatment under PM-JAY have been roped in for CM-JAY as well." However, government employees who get Rs 6,000 per annum as medical allowance could also enroll themselves in the scheme if they forgo the amount. he added...////...