Shri Anil Swarup Additional
Secretary and Director General (Labour Welfare) in the Ministry of Labour &
Employment today had a presentation on the Flagship Programme- Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). Shri Swarup was addressing the concluding
session of the two day National Editor’s conference here in New Delhi.
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) was launched
by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India in 2008 to provide
health insurance cover to Below Poverty Line population and informal sector
workers of India. The objective of the scheme is to protect these families from
shocks related to catastrophic expenditures on health by improving access to
health and reducing out of pocket expenditure.
Main Features of RSBY
This is a Smart Card based cashless and
paperless social health insurance scheme.
It provides annual hospitalisation cover
up to Rs. 30,000 for a family of five members through health insurance
companies. Families pay only a registration fee of Rs. 30 and get a RSBY smart
card which helps in accessing empaneled hospitals
across the country for in-patient treatment.
Transportation expenses up to Rs. 1,000
per year are provided in cash for travelling to the hospital.
All pre-existing diseases are covered
from day one. There is no age limit to enrol in the scheme.
75 % of the cost (premium) of the scheme
is borne by Central Government (90% in case of Jammu & Kashmir and
North-Eastern States) and the rest is borne out by respective State government.
State Governments can top-up the
coverage amount beyond Rs. 30,000.
The number of families that are enrolled
in RSBY has gone up from 4 million on 31st March 2009 to 34.16 million on 28th
February 2013 (The estimated enrolment for the year 2012-213 was 34.1 million
which has already been achieved by February 2013). Beginning with 12,500
hospitalisation cases in the financial year 2008-09, it has increased to 1.75
million such cases in 2011-12. As of 28th February 2013, total hospitalisation
cases stands at 4.98 million. Exhibits 2 and 3 show some trends over the years.
There are about 171 million persons
living-in-households-with-a-RSBY-Smart Card and 119 million of them are
enrolled in the scheme. (Currently the average number of persons enrolled per
household in RSBY is 3.5.)
Enrolment of Females in the scheme has
increased by 20% from Round 1 to Round 4. Also, for the enrolled females, the
average female hospitalization ratio (total female hospitalisation cases/total
females enrolled) has increased from 4.53% to 6.6% during the same period.
There are about 171 million persons
living-in-households-with-a-RSBY-Smart Card and 119 million of them are
enrolled in the scheme. (Currently the average number of persons enrolled per
household in RSBY is 3.5.)
There has been an improvement in access
to Healthcare. Health infrastructure being set up in remote
areas by the private sector.
Public Sector hospitals have been
competing and improving performance to gain access to flexible funds and
incentives.
Penetration in the
areas affected by extremist activities.
Recognition by International
Organisations
The scheme has been selected as one of
the top 18 social security schemes for publication in a document “Sharing
Innovative Experiences: Social Protection Floor Success Stories” brought out by
UNDP
World Bank has observed that “The
experience with the design and implementation of the Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) in particular, is one of the most promising
efforts in India to bridge this gap by providing health insurance to millions
of poor households. The program is now internationally recognized for its innovative
approach to harnessing information technology to reach the poor.”
A number of countries like Bangladesh,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, Vietnam and Indonesia have shown
interest in the scheme and delegations have visited to fathom the nuances.
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