“Medical care is a fundamental right, not a privilege,” the Chief Minister told the Assembly, announcing a fivefold increase in insurance cover and a new 400-bed hospital in North Chennai.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced a fivefold increase in the annual coverage under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme — from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh — making the announcement under Rule 110 in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
Outlining the government's healthcare priorities, he said that medical care is a fundamental right rather than a privilege, and that the government aimed to remove barriers to quality healthcare regardless of a person's income or location.
CMCHIS is the state's flagship health insurance scheme, covering treatment at government and empanelled private hospitals. Raising the annual ceiling from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh substantially changes what the scheme can absorb — particularly for prolonged or high-cost treatment such as transplants, cardiac surgery and cancer care, where the earlier ceiling could be exhausted by a single episode.
Vijay announced that a multispeciality hospital of international standards, with 400 beds, will be built in Perambur, North Chennai, at an estimated cost of ₹300 crore. New cancer treatment centres are also planned.
Perambur is the constituency Vijay represents, having won it in the 2026 election with 120,365 votes and a 58.89% share. He made his first visit there as Chief Minister on 14 July. North Chennai has historically had fewer tertiary-care facilities than the city's south and west, and the new hospital is intended to address that gap.
The Chief Minister also announced that support for transgender individuals for specialised medical and surgical services will be provided under the state insurance scheme at seven government medical college hospitals — extending coverage to procedures that have generally fallen outside public insurance.
The announcements come two days after the government completed 100 days in office. Universal health insurance was among the manifesto commitments recorded as still in progress on the manifesto tracker; the increase in CMCHIS cover is a substantial step toward it.
CMCHIS Healthcare Perambur Health Insurance August 19, 2026