ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar, the chairperson of Prime Minister’s National Health Insurance Programme (PMNHIP), has convened the first meeting of the national steering committee on Tuesday.

The programme aims to provide health coverage to 100 million people and will be implemented in phases, with 10 million covered in Phase I of the programme.

The PMNHIP has been established as an insurance programme for people who have a poverty score of or below 32.5, according to the Poverty Score Card, and developed in partnership with the provincial government.

The premium will be jointly borne by the federal and provincial governments with the former paying the premium for critical illnesses/tertiary care while latter will be responsible for secondary health care.

Service delivery will be through public and private sector healthcare facilities for which details will be worked out in collaboration with the provinces.

The committee meeting will be attended by all members, including representatives from the provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Fata and technical experts.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2014