Annual premium of over 1,200 crore for CMCHIS paid to insurance company

An annual premium of ₹1,237.80 crore for the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) was paid to the United India Insurance Company. Under the scheme, over 1.45 crore families are covered, with the State paying a premium of ₹849 per family to provide health insurance benefits.

The amount of ₹1,237.80 crore comprised ₹1,173.66 crore towards 95% of the annual premium for the coverage period (January 11, 2026 to January 10, 2027), benefitting 1,45,51,697 families, in addition to ₹64.13 crore being the remaining 5% premium from last year, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said, shortly after handing over the cheque to the officials of the insurance company.

Since its launch in 2009 by former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, the CMCHIS has steadily expanded. Giving details of the annual premium paid in the last three years, he said an amount of ₹1,200 crore was paid on January 10, 2023, followed by ₹1,228.27 crore on January 10, 2024, and ₹1,262.91 crore on January 11, 2025.

‘Over 2.7 lakh enrolled’

Over the last four to five months, the Ungaludan Stalin and Nalam Kaakkum Stalin initiatives have been implemented across the State. While around 10,000 camps were organised under the Ungaludan Stalin programme, the camps conducted under Nalam Kaakkum Stalin have almost touched 1,000. Through these camps, a total of 2,77,735 new beneficiaries were enrolled under CMCHIS, Mr. Subramanian said.

He said that after this government assumed charge, nearly 10 special categories of persons were included under the scheme. This included orphans, persons with disabilities, persons residing in Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps, in-patients of mental health institutions, those residing in homes for the aged, and members of transperson welfare board and construction workers welfare board. As many as 7,56,873 people belonging to these categories were brought under CMCHIS coverage.

Mr. Subramanian said the government had increased the premium per family from ₹699 to ₹849 and the annual income limit from ₹72,000 to ₹1.20 lakh. From 1,090 treatments earlier, the scheme now covered a total of 2,053 treatments, while the number of government and private empanelled hospitals has increased from 970 to 2,157. The number of high-end procedures covered under the CMCHIS has increased from two to eight.

Awards were presented to hospitals and doctors who performed well in the scheme during 2025-26. Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar and Project Director of Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project S. Vineeth were present.