Panaji: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to adopt Punjab’s Rs 10 lakh health insurance scheme, claiming that the state’s public healthcare system has “collapsed” and the existing Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) has failed to benefit people.
Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said nearly 90 per cent of Goa’s population depends on government healthcare as private treatment is beyond the reach of most families, especially in cases of serious illnesses.
He alleged that the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), the state’s only super-speciality government hospital, is overcrowded, while other government hospitals are plagued by staff shortages, lack of specialists, inadequate infrastructure and shortage of medicines.
“The entire healthcare system has collapsed. Ninety per cent of the people do not know where to go if a family member falls seriously ill,” he said.
Kejriwal said the DDSSY insurance scheme, which provides an annual cover of Rs 4 lakh for families of up to three members and Rs 6 lakh for larger families, is inadequate and has become “dysfunctional”.
According to him, the insurance cover is too low to meet the cost of treatment for major ailments, while only 447 diseases and procedures are covered under the scheme.
He also claimed that hospitals often refuse to honour DDSSY cards because government reimbursements are delayed by several months and the reimbursement rates have not been revised since 2016.
“The number of beneficiaries has declined from 2.95 lakh families in 2022-23 to 1.81 lakh in 2025-26, which itself shows that people are not benefiting from the scheme,” he alleged.
Drawing a comparison with Punjab, where the AAP is in power, Kejriwal said every resident family there is entitled to health insurance of up to Rs 10 lakh annually without any income criteria.
He claimed that the Punjab scheme covers around 2,350 diseases and medical procedures, compared to 447 under Goa’s scheme, and that hospitals receive payments within 15 days.
Appealing directly to Sawant, Kejriwal said Goa should adopt the Punjab model to ensure quality healthcare for all.
“We appeal to the Goa Chief Minister to learn from Punjab’s good practices and implement a Rs 10 lakh insurance scheme covering all major diseases and procedures. If this is done, private hospitals will become accessible to the common people, ensuring that even the poorest person receives the same quality of treatment as the rich,” he said.
Kejriwal said strengthening government hospitals would take time, and until then, a comprehensive insurance-based model would provide immediate relief to the people.
