The Sehat Card in Punjab is now officially called the Health Insurance Program, and it is run by the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC). This guide explains who is eligible, what it covers, what you may have to pay, how to use it with your CNIC, and where it works after the June 2025 changes.
A correction first. Many websites, and an earlier version of this guide, sent Punjab readers to sehatsahulat.com.pk and SMS 8500. That website belongs to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sehat Card Plus, not Punjab. Punjab’s official source is PHIMC’s Health Insurance Program page.
What the Sehat Card is in Punjab today
People still call it the Sehat Card, Sehat Sahulat or Universal Health Insurance. PHIMC, a Government of the Punjab company, calls it the Health Insurance Program. It pays for hospital admissions at empanelled (panel) hospitals, up to a yearly limit for each family.
There is no separate card and nothing to register for. PHIMC’s FAQ puts it simply: “Your CNIC is your Health Insurance Program.” The official page links to the PHIMC FAQ (also in Urdu) and the list of empanelled hospitals.
Sehat Card at a glance
As of September 2026, PHIMC’s FAQ gives these details:
| Punjab Health Insurance Program | |
|---|---|
| Run by | PHIMC, Government of the Punjab |
| Who is eligible | All permanent residents of Punjab |
| Family | Husband, wife and unmarried children |
| Secondary care | PKR 60,000 per family per year |
| Priority care | PKR 400,000 per family per year |
| Special cases | Up to PKR 1,000,000 |
| Where | Empanelled private hospitals |
| Fully free | Cancer, ICU, CCU, NICU, medical cases, thalassemia, emergencies |
| Other conditions | Family pays 50% |
| Helpline | 0800-07542 (24/7) |
These rules have changed before, so confirm them on the helpline before a planned admission.
Who is eligible for the Sehat Card
PHIMC’s FAQ says: “All permanent residents of Punjab are eligible for the Health Insurance Program.” The Urdu FAQ adds that no registration is needed, and that there is no limit on family size or age.
A family means:
- Husband and wife
- Their unmarried children
- Newborns, who are added automatically if born in an empanelled hospital
Married children are not part of their parents’ family for this program. The program takes family data from NADRA, so your NADRA record must be correct for marriages, births and deaths.
The rules have changed before. In December 2021, the scheme was opened to all Punjab residents with Rs 1 million per family. In July 2023, the caretaker government decided to limit it to people earning up to Rs 65,000 a month, Dawn reported. If you are unsure of your status, call 0800-07542 with your CNIC.
What the Sehat Card covers
Only in-patient treatment is covered: you must be admitted. OPD (outpatient) visits are not.
Each family has two limits each year:
- Secondary care, PKR 60,000: ordinary treatment that needs a hospital stay.
- Priority care, PKR 400,000: serious, high-cost conditions. The Urdu FAQ lists heart disease, diabetes complications that need admission, accident injuries and burns, complications of chronic diseases such as hepatitis B and C, neurosurgery and thalassemia.
The English FAQ also lists surgery, fractures, angioplasty, bypass and cancer treatment.
Pre-existing conditions are covered, and so are one day before and up to five days after your hospital stay. If your limit runs out while you are admitted, “ongoing treatment will continue until recovery”, and life-threatening conditions are covered even after the limit is used.
What is free and what you pay
Many people miss this. PHIMC’s FAQ says empanelled private hospitals give free treatment for cancer, ICU, CCU, NICU, medical cases, thalassemia and all emergency services. “For other medical conditions, 50% of the treatment cost is covered by the Health Insurance Program.” Your family pays the other 50%.
In hospital language, a “medical case” usually means an admission treated without an operation. Before you agree to admission, ask the Hospital Facilitation Officer how your case is classed.
This is not new. News reports say patients began paying a share at private hospitals in September 2023, rising to 50% in January 2024.
What is not covered
- OPD visits
- Normal delivery and C-sections
- Cosmetic procedures
- Dental treatment
- Eyeglasses
- Drug addiction
- Self-inflicted injuries, or injuries from crimes
- Anything excluded by the insurance company’s policy
How to use your Sehat Card at a hospital
- Find an empanelled hospital on PHIMC’s list. Our Sehat Card hospital list guide explains how to read it.
- Call first to check the hospital is still taking program patients for your treatment.
- Take your original CNIC, plus the B-Form for a child under 18.
- Go to the Hospital Facilitation Officer (HFO) or the program desk. The HFO checks your CNIC and guides your admission.
- Ask before you agree: is this free or 50%, and how much of your family’s limit is left? See our Sehat Card balance check guide.
Where it works: private hospitals since June 2025
From 30 June 2025, Punjab closed the program in all public sector hospitals, Dawn reported. It continues at empanelled private hospitals.
PHIMC’s FAQ says the program “has not been stopped” and “has only been discontinued in government hospitals”, where treatment “was already completely free and still remains free”.
Officials said the aim was to avoid duplicate benefits with the Chief Minister’s newer health programmes. PHIMC also runs separate CM programmes for transplants, dialysis, children’s heart surgery, adult cardiac surgery, cancer patients and stroke, each with its own rules.
The official list we checked on 12 September 2026 had 153 hospitals in 34 districts, almost all private. Our hospital list guide gives the district breakdown.
If you are marked ineligible or a family member is missing
Marked ineligible, but you live in Punjab? PHIMC says visit your nearest NADRA office to update your family data. Once NADRA updates it, your eligibility is corrected. You can also call 0800-07542.
Spouse missing after marriage? Update your family record with NADRA, and PHIMC says the change syncs automatically. See our NADRA FRC and NADRA CNIC guides.
Newborn or child under 18? A baby born in an empanelled hospital is added automatically. For a baby born elsewhere, or any child under 18, give the child’s Form-B at the hospital helpdesk. Our birth certificate guide explains birth registration.
If a hospital refuses you or asks for money
First, PHIMC says, check three things:
- Your case needs admission, not OPD.
- Your treatment is not on the excluded list.
- Your limit is not used up (this does not apply in emergencies).
If the refusal is still wrong, speak to the HFO at the hospital. Then call 0800-07542 (24/7) or email complaints.punjab@phimc.punjab.gov.pk.
The 50% co-payment is official for some conditions, so ask for a written breakdown, but you should not be charged for anything on the free list. Keep every bill and receipt. If you get no answer, complain on the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal.
Punjab, federal and KP Sehat Cards compared
Three governments run three separate programmes. Use the one for the province or region on your record.
| Punjab | Federal | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Health Insurance Program | PM National Health Program (Sehat Sahulat) | Sehat Card Plus |
| Run by | PHIMC, Punjab government | Federal health ministry | KP government |
| Who | Permanent residents of Punjab | Permanent residents of ICT, AJK and GB | KP families registered with NADRA |
| Yearly cover | PKR 60,000 secondary, PKR 400,000 priority | Up to Rs 720,000 per family | Up to Rs 1 million per family |
| Helpline | 0800-07542 | 0800-09009 | 0800 89898 |
| Website | phimc.punjab.gov.pk | pmhealthprogram.gov.pk | sehatsahulat.com.pk |
Federal: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif relaunched the federal Sehat Card on 16 January 2026 for about 10 million people in Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, Dawn reported, with about 70 hospitals in those areas and 16 in Karachi. He said Punjab runs its own programme. The federal website has long listed SMS 8500 for eligibility checks, but PHIMC lists no SMS code for Punjab.
KP: sehatsahulat.com.pk is Sehat Card Plus, run by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Its SMS code 9780 and helpline 0800 89898 are for KP families only.
Registration is free: avoid Sehat Card fraud
There is no registration and no fee for Punjab’s program. Your CNIC is enough.
- Nobody can add your name or “activate” your card for money
- Never share an OTP or your CNIC details with a caller who says they are from the Sehat Card
- Ignore messages offering to “increase your limit” or “recharge” your card
- For Punjab, use only phimc.punjab.gov.pk and 0800-07542
Report fraud on the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal.
Contact
- Official page: phimc.punjab.gov.pk/node/1263
- Helpline (24/7): 0800-07542
- Other lines (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 11pm): 0333-6756390 (also on WhatsApp), 042-99066000, 042-99066001
- Email: info@phimc.punjab.gov.pk
- Complaints email: complaints.punjab@phimc.punjab.gov.pk
- Address: 42-D/E-1, Ghalib Road, Gulberg-III, Lahore
Related support
- Sehat Card hospital list, where the card works
- Sehat Card balance check, how your yearly limit works
- Aaghosh Program, cash support for mothers (the Sehat Card does not cover deliveries)
- Ba-Himmat Buzurg Program, PSPA’s pension for poor elderly people (ask PSPA on 1221 whether new names are being added)
- PSER registration, the registry some Punjab programs use, such as the Rehmat Card
To see which Punjab and federal programs your household may qualify for, try our free eligibility checker.
GoPunjab is an independent information website. We are not PHIMC, the Punjab government or an insurance company, and we cannot check your eligibility, see your balance or approve treatment. We only explain how the official program works.