Parliament on Sunday passed a bill to boost the health insurance premium of cabinet members and their spouses and children under the age of 18 to MVR 24,000.

Parliament passed the bill at Sunday’s sitting which was held over a month after the last one.

The bill was passed with 36 votes from government-aligned MPs that were present at the sitting. The bill to boost the health insurance of the 15 ministers in the cabinet was proposed by President Abdulla Yameen and evaluated by the public finance committee.

Ministers, their spouses and their children under 18 currently receive MVR 19,000. The committee, which includes members of opposition parties MDP and JP, approved the bill on April 19 and the parliament has now passed the bill to increase the yearly Allied Insurance premium to MVR 24,000.

The committee’s report also recommended that the spouses and under-18 children of members of the National Integrity Commission (NIC) also be allowed into the health insurance scheme.