The Balochistan Health Card is the province’s universal health insurance: every family with a permanent Balochistan address in NADRA records can get free treatment at panel hospitals up to Rs 1 million a year, and the CNIC itself works as the card. This guide sits inside our Balochistan Schemes collection and our wider Health Schemes hub, and it explains who is covered, what treatment is included, how to check eligibility on 8500, and how treatment actually works at the hospital desk.
The Government of Balochistan launched the Balochistan Health Card Programme in November 2023 with the State Life Insurance Corporation as the insurer. Unlike income-tested schemes, this card has no poverty score and no application form: if NADRA shows your family’s permanent address in Balochistan, your family is in. The programme was built for about 2 million to 2.3 million families across the province, and the programme’s chief executive has reported that more than 85,000 patients received free treatment in roughly the first nine months alone, including cancer care, kidney transplants, dialysis and heart treatment.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Programme | Balochistan Health Card Programme |
| Run by | Government of Balochistan with State Life Insurance Corporation |
| Launched | November 2023 |
| Who is covered | Every family with a permanent Balochistan address in NADRA records |
| Cover | Up to Rs 1 million per family per year |
| Card | Your CNIC is the card; no separate card is issued |
| Eligibility check | SMS your CNIC number to 8500 |
| Helpline | 0800-01001 |
| Hospitals | 1,200+ panel hospitals across Pakistan |
| Covered care | Admitted (in-patient) treatment; OPD is not covered |
Who Is Eligible for the Balochistan Health Card
Eligibility is universal and automatic. Every resident whose CNIC carries a permanent Balochistan address is covered, rich or poor, with no income test, no survey and no registration visit. Children are covered through the family record, which is why the programme keeps asking families to make sure every child’s B-Form and every member’s details are correct at NADRA. If your family has moved, married or had a child since your records were last updated, fix the record first: the hospital system reads NADRA, and a family member missing from the record can be refused at the desk even though the family is eligible.
There is one practical condition: the permanent address on the CNIC must be in Balochistan. A temporary Quetta address on a CNIC issued elsewhere does not qualify under this programme, though the same family may be covered by the health programme of its home province.
What the Balochistan Health Card Covers
Each covered family can claim up to Rs 1 million of treatment in a year, and the balance renews annually. The card pays for admitted treatment at panel hospitals, including heart treatment and cardiac surgery, dialysis and kidney care, cancer treatment, neurosurgery, emergency care, maternity in-patient services, general surgery, radiology and specialised investigations. Programme reporting has confirmed patients treated for cancer, kidney transplants, dialysis and heart disease under the card.
The limit is per family, not per person, so one member’s major surgery uses the same family balance as everyone else’s. The Balochistan Health Card mobile app shows how much of the yearly balance has been used, which is worth checking before an expensive planned procedure.
What Is Not Covered
The card is for admitted patients only. OPD visits, routine checkups, take-home medicines after discharge and treatment at hospitals that are not on the panel are not paid by the programme. Cosmetic procedures and treatments outside the approved package are also excluded. If a hospital asks you to pay for something the card should cover, call the helpline on 0800-01001 before paying, because panel hospitals are required to treat card patients cashlessly within the package.
How to Check Your Balochistan Health Card Eligibility
Checking takes one text message:
- Open the SMS app on any mobile phone.
- Type your 13-digit CNIC number without dashes.
- Send it to 8500.
- The reply confirms whether your family is covered.
You can also confirm at the health desk of any panel hospital, through the Balochistan Health Card mobile app, or by calling the free helpline on 0800-01001. If the reply says you are not covered but your family belongs to Balochistan, the problem is almost always the NADRA record: visit a NADRA office, correct the permanent address or family details, and check again.
How to Get Treatment on the Card
Go to any panel hospital (there are more than 1,200 across Pakistan, including hospitals in Quetta and every major city) and ask for the health card desk or health desk. Show the patient’s CNIC; children are treated on their B-Form against the family record. The desk verifies eligibility on the system, the hospital admits the patient, and the bill is settled directly between the hospital and the insurer. There is no recommendation letter, no approval visit and no form to fill in before treatment: the programme is fully digital, and the CNIC is all you carry.
Balochistan Health Card or Awami Endowment Fund: Which One Fits?
Balochistan runs two very different kinds of treatment money. The Health Card is insurance for everyone: fast, automatic, and capped at Rs 1 million per family per year. The Balochistan Awami Endowment Fund is the opposite design: it pays for catastrophic cases one by one, after a board examines the medical file, and a single approved transplant or cancer case can receive many times the card’s limit. In practice, families use the card first for ordinary admissions, and the Endowment Fund is the route when treatment is so expensive that insurance cannot carry it. A separate health insurance policy for Balochistan government employees has also been approved for 2026; that is an employee scheme and is different from this universal card.
Balochistan Health Card FAQs
It is a universal health insurance programme of the Government of Balochistan, run with the State Life Insurance Corporation since November 2023. Every family with a permanent Balochistan address in NADRA records gets up to Rs 1 million a year of free admitted treatment at panel hospitals, and the CNIC itself works as the card.
Send your 13-digit CNIC number by SMS to 8500. The reply confirms your family’s coverage. You can also check through the Balochistan Health Card mobile app, at the health desk of any panel hospital, or on the free helpline 0800-01001.
Up to Rs 1 million per family per year. The limit is shared by the whole family and renews every year. The mobile app shows how much of the balance your family has used.
More than 1,200 panel hospitals across Pakistan accept it, including hospitals in Quetta and all major cities. The mobile app lists the nearest panel hospitals; at the hospital, go to the health card desk with the patient’s CNIC.
No. The card covers admitted, in-patient treatment only, such as surgery, dialysis, cancer care, heart treatment and maternity admissions. OPD visits and routine checkups are not covered.
Update your NADRA record first. Eligibility is read directly from NADRA, so a wrong permanent address, an unregistered marriage or a child without a B-Form can make a Balochistan family look uncovered. Correct the record at a NADRA office and send the SMS again.
Keep exploring: Health Schemes · Balochistan Schemes · All Government Schemes
Last updated: November 4, 2026