Punjab, the biggest and most populous province in the country, had a $400 billion health insurance program that was intended for both the wealthy and the underprivileged.
According to Dawn, the project titled “Implementation of Universal Health Coverage under Health Insurance Program in Punjab” was presented at a recent Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting under the direction of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal.
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The planning ministry opposed the proposal and cited lender concerns about wasteful spending and unintended subsidies as justification for its rejection.
The meeting was informed that during a few meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office and the economic affairs division (EAD) for coordination on flood-related pledges, lenders and donors continued to place a priority on allocating funds to those who truly deserve and require external assistance rather than on those who can afford it but prefer public funds.
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The lack of a third-party inspection regime for the designated hospitals for quality assurance, the removal of missing facilities from the quality of services, the incompleteness of the legal framework, the lack of an updated health policy matrix for the two parallel health financing streams, and other issues were all cited by the ministry as reasons for their dissatisfaction.
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The CDWP made the decision to block the health insurance plan and send it back for review in light of the pointed-out problems in order to address its flaws, repetitions, and contradictions and make a well-informed decision.
Relevantly, the four provinces are required to provide the federal government with a cash surplus of Rs. 800 billion this year under the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, which is supported by the World Bank and other multilateral institutions, in order to maintain the fiscal deficit and primary balance within budgeted targets.
