Tibetan Medicare System Invites New Enrollment for Medical Insurance

The Tibetan Medicare System (TMS) of the Department of Health, Central Tibetan Administration, invites the public to enroll in its healthcare insurance program. TMS will start accepting new enrollments from 1 January to 31 March 2017.

THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH INSURANCE.

Health Insurance works by spreading the risk of healthcare expenses over a number of people so that the financial burden of unfortunate few who need healthcare is shared by the many fortunate who remain healthy.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, will need to seek expensive healthcare services e.g. hospitalization or surgery. With the present day stress, sedentary life-styles and pollution, an increasing number of people are being diagnosed with heart ailment, cancer and other critical illness that are expensive to treat. A few days of hospitalization, major surgery or chemotherapy can cost lakhs of rupees.

In India, many of us pay directly to the doctor, the chemist and the laboratory for day to day ailments, since treatment of these are generally low-cost. However, the cost of hospitalization is expensive and most of us find it unaffordable.

Health Insurance protects us against unexpected financial loss. It empowers us to access and afford needed healthcare services. Let us see an example: Tenzin has fallen ill and requires hospitalisation, which will cost Rs. 50,000. There are two different ways to cover this cost:

  1. Collect, or pool, a small amount of money from each person in the community to cover the cost of Tenzin’s hospitalization, or
  2. Make Tenzin cover the cost on his own – which could potentially push him into poverty – and set the precedent that everyone must pay their own healthcare costs, regardless of how high it might be.

The first option is an example of how health insurance works. Each person in the community makes a small contribution and eventually the community shares the burden of the large expense incurred for the hospitalization of one.

What is Tibetan Medicare System?

Tibetan Medicare System is a holistic Secondary and Tertiary Health Care Program meant for all Tibetan refugees under the direct cover of Tibetan Voluntary Health Association (TVHA), registered under the Societies Act 1860. TMS is a nonprofit and charitable Health Plan that aims to improve public health and well-being of the Tibetan community in-exile. The Department of Health launched TMS on 1st April 2012. It is running on its fifth year now and sixth year will be started from 1st April 2017.

Status of Tibetan Medicare System for year 2016-17

  • Total number of member: 24049
  • Total number of beneficiaries from 1st Apr to 07 Nov 2016 (In 8 months) –   996
  • Total amount of reimbursement Rs: 10803812
  • Number of settlements and other Organizations in India where TMS Service has started – 37

Period of Cover for year 2017 starts from 1st-April 2017 to 31st -March 2018.