A total of 28.34 lakh people have benefited by availing medical treatment worth Rs 5,527 crore under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme since its inception in 2011-12, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam said on February 8.

The scheme is to ensure universal health coverage and to provide state of the art treatment for serious illnesses at government and private hospitals for the poor. The government recently increased the insurance coverage of Rs two lakh per family per annum to Rs 5 lakh with effect from December 1, 2018, he said while presenting the budget for 2019-20 in the state assembly.

A sum of Rs 1,363 crore has been provided in the budget estimates 2019-2020 towards payment of premium for this scheme, Panneerselvam, who holds the Finance portfolio, said.