Arogya Karnataka scheme to be linked with Aadhaar

Health cards issued under the Arogya Karnataka universal health coverage scheme will be linked to Aadhaar to weed out bogus beneficiaries, Health and Family Welfare Minister Shivanand Patil announced on Thursday.

“We will link the health cards to Aadhaar to identify who is really eligible to be covered under the scheme,” Patil told reporters here.

National Health Mission state director Rathan U Kelkar added that a notification would be issued under the State Aadhaar Act to enable the linking of the cards.

As many as 15,643 patients have availed of treatment under the Arogya Karnataka scheme so far, Patil said. “I also want to clarify the Arogya Karnataka card is not a must to obtain treatment. Patients can produce their BPL/APL card and get treatment,” the minister said.

The Arogya Karnataka scheme will be merged with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat (National Health Protection Scheme). “Karnataka has 1.30 crore BPL families. The Centre’s scheme is expected to cover 62 lakh families,” Patil said.

At present, 501 private hospitals have been empanelled to offer healthcare services under Arogya Karnataka scheme. “We are in talks with another 322 private hospitals and some differences in fixation of rates are being sorted out. I’m sure all of them will fall in line sooner or later,” the minister said.

The government is also mulling increasing the health cover under the Arogya Karnataka scheme from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh akin to the Centre’s scheme, Patil said.