Kerala to join national insurance plan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac while welcoming the national health insurance scheme announced in the union budget on Thursday, expressed apprehensions about the criteria being adopted by the Centre for finalising beneficiaries. The Centre had announced Rs 5 lakh annual health insurance for 10 crore families which will have coverage for nearly 50 crore persons. In the pre-budget memorandum, Kerala had requested the Central Government to enhance the benefits under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY).

It is understood that the eligibility of states with respect to 10 crore beneficiary families will be determined on the basis of socio-economic census. Consequently, a lion-share of families who are currently covered under RSBY in the state might get excluded from the insurance coverage which will be a major setback for Kerala. The finance minister has clarified that though the details from on the new scheme are awaited from Centre, all beneficiaries under RSBY scheme would be included in the new National Scheme even if the State Government had to remit their entire insurance premium.

Those who are eligible but excluded from the present RSBY scheme would also be included in the new scheme. In addition to this, people belonging to middle class and the rest will be encouraged to enrol in the scheme by remitting the entire premium on their own. The government will explore the possibility of connecting service pension scheme with this policy. In that sense the state will become the first state in India that ensures Universal Health Security. The state government had earlier put in place a two-tier health programme. The basic level was the extended RSBY. An assistance upto Rs.30000 had been made available for inpatient treatment through this scheme.

This programme was to ensure the enrolment of 40 lakh families and to provide treatment for lifestyle diseases to them in public health sector as per determined protocol. As per this scheme, treatment up to Rs.2 lakh could have been availed from accredited private hospitals. However, now with the Centre announcing the national health insurance policy, all the existing schemes in the state will have to be modulated accordingly. The government has announced that resource mobilization for Comprehensive Health Care Scheme will be through Kerala Lottery.