The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $108 million results-based loan to help Mizoram strengthen its public healthcare system and move towards universal health coverage through a new state-wide insurance scheme. The Supporting Public Health Care System Strengthening to Achieve Universal Health Care for Mizoram Programme aims to improve equitable access to affordable, quality health services for the state’s 1.38 million residents, with a special focus on women, older people and persons with disabilities.
According to ADB, the programme will support the rollout of the Mizoram Universal Health Care Scheme (MUHCS), which will unify existing Central and state health protection schemes on a single cashless and paperless platform. By integrating Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana with the Mizoram State Health Care Scheme, the state will bring all citizens under one umbrella, ensuring that poor and vulnerable households receive free coverage while other families contribute premiums and government employees pay a fixed share of their salary.
With ADB’s support, Mizoram becomes the first Indian state to undertake this type of comprehensive reform in its universal health coverage architecture. MUHCS will offer coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, with the state government fully bearing the costs for low-income and vulnerable groups, thereby reducing out-of-pocket expenditure and financial hardship linked to serious illness.
The programme is also designed to respond to Mizoram’s high burden of noncommunicable diseases and cancer, which together account for over half of the state’s overall disease load. It will integrate environmental and climate-adaptation measures into health services, including public awareness campaigns and disaster-preparedness initiatives, recognising the state’s vulnerability to health risks associated with extreme weather events.
In addition, ADB support will be used to strengthen institutional capacity across the health system, including the state Department of Health and Family Welfare, primary care units and the Mizoram State Health Care Society, which is responsible for implementing MUHCS. As a leading multilateral development bank in Asia and the Pacific, ADB said this partnership underscores its commitment to inclusive, resilient and sustainable health systems, backed by innovative financing and long-term sectoral reform.
