Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has asked the Union Government to extend medical insurance coverage to all Ayurveda treatments to enable their reach to more sections of people.

Only a few Ayurveda procedures are included in the medical insurance coverage extended by a limited number of private insurance players. If the entire Ayurveda procedures are covered like that in other treatment systems, the same will benefit numerous people, the minister said.

“The Union Ayush minister should take up measures to cover all Ayurveda procedures under the Union government’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana,” Pramod Sawant requested.

He stressed the need to introduce specific criteria to identify the procedures that can be allotted medical insurance coverage.

“Being an Ayurveda doctor, it’s my request to Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take up the issue of insurance claims with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India as it will help take Ayurveda to each and every household,” he said.

Sawant added that Goa is promoting wellness tourism, in which Ayurveda plays a crucial role. The chief minister said the Ayurveda doctors in the state are researching an Ayurvedic solution that can replace the dialysis procedure in kidney patients.