Oommen Chandy Health Insurance — ₹25 lakh per household

What was promised

The UDF 2026 manifesto commits to a health insurance scheme named after the late Oommen Chandy that covers every household in Kerala for medical expenses of up to ₹25 lakh per year.

The scheme as named in the manifesto is structurally similar in branding to a 2023 announcement under the previous LDF government, but the manifesto sets a higher household coverage ceiling. We do not interpret the relationship between the two here; we record only what was promised.

What is unclear from the manifesto text alone

• Whether the scheme is universal at the point of access, or operates as a reimbursement against private insurance for households above a certain income.
• The list of empanelled hospitals.
• The premium model: fully tax-funded, partially contributory, or a mix.
• Coverage scope: in-patient only, day-care, out-patient, prescription medicines, diagnostics.
• Interaction with existing schemes such as Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) and Ayushman Bharat.

We will record these as the government publishes the scheme design.

How we will assess fulfilment

The promise reaches in_progress when the government issues an order constituting the scheme or appoints a committee to design it. It reaches fulfilled when the scheme is operational, an order specifies eligibility and coverage at the level the manifesto committed to, and verified evidence from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 source confirms that households are receiving the benefit.

A pilot in selected districts, or a rebranding of an existing scheme without raising the coverage ceiling, will be recorded as in_progress, not fulfilled.

Why this matters in plain terms

Out-of-pocket health expenditure is the single largest cause of household financial distress in India. A universal ₹25 lakh household coverage ceiling would be among the highest in the country, and the operational details — who is covered, where, for what — will determine whether the headline holds up at a hospital counter. The record matters.

Edit and update notes

• Manifesto page number pending verification against the source PDF.
• Malayalam title and summary translated by the editors and pending review by a native speaker.