Confusion over Kerala’s Medisep: Premium to remain ₹500 in January; launch of second phase postponed

Thiruvananthapuram: The second phase of Medisep, the insurance scheme for government employees and pensioners in Kerala, which was scheduled to begin on January 1, has been postponed. The delay is due to the contract with Oriental Insurance Company not being finalised and confusion over the imposition of GST on the premium.

The existing scheme will continue in January as well. A premium of ₹500 will be sufficient for January. However, since the directive in this regard was issued late, preparing the bills has created issues. The initial instruction was to prepare salary and pension bills deducting the ₹810 premium fixed for the second phase. This was later withdrawn, and a directive was issued by Monday evening to prepare bills with a ₹500 deduction instead.

As pension bills have already been passed, pensioners will have to pay ₹810 this month. After deducting ₹500, the remaining ₹310 will be adjusted against next month’s premium. In salary bills that have already been passed, ₹810 will be deducted, and the excess ₹310 will either be adjusted next month or refunded.

The Finance Department has also initiated steps to exempt the premium from GST. The GST component amounts to ₹110 per month. A decision has been taken to approach the Advance Ruling Authority. If GST is exempted, the premium will come down to ₹700.