Health cover to envelop entire state by 2009

Under its Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the Centre will contribute 75 per cent of the total annual premium per BPL family, while the state government will pay the remaining 25 per cent of the premium. Accordingly, the Centre will soon allocate a fund of Rs 125 crore to the state to implement the scheme.

Gujarat Health Commissioner Amarjit Singh told Newsline on Saturday that Gujarat would be the first state in the country to provide health insurance cover to the highest number of BPL families — around 20 lakh — when it is fully implemented across the state by April 2009.

In fact, three other states — Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan — where the scheme has already been launched, have together covered only about four lakh such families till now. This is less than the 5.56 beneficiaries covered under the pilot project in Bharuch, Dahod, Jamnagar, Kutch and Patan, Singh said.

The government has engaged private insurance company Cholamandalam to implement the scheme in these five districts. The company has already launched a drive to prepare and distribute smart cards among the BPL families with the logistical support being provided by the various state government departments like Health, Rural Development and Panchayat.

Since the scheme mainly covers BPL workers and their families engaged in

the unorganised sector, the Union Labour and Employment Ministry has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government for its implementation.

“While in Bharuch most of the BPL families have been provided with smart cards, its distribution in other four districts will be over by November. We expect the BPL families in Bharuch to start availing the medical facilities from mid November under the scheme,” said the

Health Commissioner.

After successfully launching the project, the government has initiated the process of inviting bids from private insurance firms to implement the scheme in the remaining 21 districts of Gujarat. When bids are finalised in the next few days, a drive to prepare and distribute smart cards among the BPL families will be launched in these

districts.

Under the scheme, the total amount insured will be Rs 30,000 per family who will have to pay only Rs 30 per annum as registration/renewal fees. The beneficiaries will be able to seek medical treatment for different diseases through a network of hospitals being run by private practitioners, public trusts and the government.

The insurance company will empanel the eligible health service providers under the scheme. The hospitals thus empanelled will provide surgical as well as clinical health services to the beneficiaries as per the insurance package to be worked out by insurers.