Leaky insurance cover\, lack of medical benefits vex cops

In January, 10 policemen in the state died of heart attacks, five died of ill health and one of liver failure. In February, two officers died of heart attacks, two of kidney failure and five of deteriorating health.

Every month, at least 10 police personnel in Tamil Nadu die of various ailments and the number does not include suicides and accidents.

While all the policemen in the city are supposed to undergo a health check-up at any of the four government hospitals — Stanley Government Hospital, Royapettah Government Hospital, Chromepet government hospital and Kilpauk Medical College Hospital — there is an age limit for mandatory check-ups. Till 2017, it was compulsory for officers under 40 to undergo the check-up. The limit was increased to 30 last year. Within this period, 4,500 police personnel were screened by Stanley Hospital alone whereas 3,000 where checked at KMC Hospital.

Officials that DT Next spoke to admitted that diabetes and high blood pressure are common among the force and refused to reveal more details fearing backlash.

On the other hand, policemen who are covered by the present government medical insurance scheme complain that it is of little use to them as most of the applications for reimbursement are rejected because particular ailments and diseases are not covered under the insurance scheme. A few copies of such petitions ended up in social media and were widely circulated by the policemen themselves.

“A common condition that all police personnel in the lower ranks face is varicose veins, but we cannot claim insurance to treat it. Treatments for eye defects except cataract and those caused by accidents have been categorised as cosmetic surgery and are excluded from the insurance cover. My wife was admitted in a private hospital for multi-organ defect caused by dengue which cost me over Rs 15 lakh. But my application for reimbursement was rejected as dengue is not included in the medical cover,” said an officer, on condition of anonymity. He also said that the insurance firm classifies the diseases under different limitation slabs and would only disburse a particular sum even if the treatment expenses are much higher.

Policemen who spoke to this newspaper said that Rs 180 is deducted from their salary every month towards the premium of medical insurance of up to Rs 4 lakh. While MDIndia Health Insurance TPA Private Limited of United India Insurance has been the insurance provider to the government staff across the state for the last few years, many claim that they have not even received their insurance cards despite several requests.

“We don’t mind paying extra for a comprehensive insurance scheme where we don’t have to worry about which hospital to go or whether the treatment would be covered under the scheme. Just because we are government employees and are paying only Rs 180, giving us a useless medical insurance plan is not justified,” said an officer not wishing to be named.

Another police officer said, “The strength of the police force is about 1.5 lakh and even if each person pays Rs 180 per month, the insurance firm takes about Rs 30 crore of our earnings every year. Why should a third-party benefit out of our hard-earned money?”

“The government should either set up a hospital exclusively for us with all the facilities or get a medical insurance scheme in which no ailment is excluded otherwise, we do not want to be included in this insurance scheme at all. This has made everyone opt for private insurance schemes as it is more reliable and useful. The petitions to take us off the insurance scheme have been in vain,” the officer added.

When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner (Headquarters) of Greater Chennai Police, A Saravanan, said that people whose treatment could not be covered by the insurance scheme have the provision of getting immediate disbursal of Rs 25,000 from the Commissioner’s benevolent fund. “Officers whose medical expenditure exceeds the limit will be recommended for compensation to DGP office by the Commissioner himself. The meeting for it will take place once in three months and compensation up to Rs 4 lakh will be given to critical cases,” said Saravanan.

While private health insurance for government staff including police personnel is a relatively new initiative, having been introduced nearly a decade ago, police personnel had to solely depend on the benevolent funds or shell out from their pocket to get treated at hospitals.

But, officers can also apply for special wards at government hospitals for better amenities, which are available for government employees. The Resident Medical Officer at Stanley Government Hospital, Dr M Ramesh, said that all hospitals with over 300 beds would have a special ward. “If a government official wants to get admitted at a special ward in the government hospital they just have to get a certificate from their superior officer. We call it a non-gazetted officer’s certificate for government staff. In Stanley Hospital, there is a 30-bed facility for officials. People from higher income groups can also get admitted to the special ward provided they show proof of income,” he said.

As a part of the ongoing well-being training programme for police personnel, officers of inspector and sub-inspectors rank have been appointed as nodal officers called well-being offices to explain police personnel of a particular range how to make optimum use of the insurance scheme. “They have also been issued with the user handbook that will have all the required details including the listed hospitals of the insurance firm and ailments covered under the scheme. Those who have not received their insurance identity card can also approach them for getting it without delay,” said the Deputy Commissioner.

The officer also said that all the grievances and complaints of police personnel regarding the current medical insurance scheme have been forwarded to the higher officials and most of them would be sorted out when the new insurance scheme is introduced in 2020 to give the police force privilege over others.