Health insurance scheme for APL families on the cards

The Health department has proposed a health insurance scheme for the above poverty line (APL) families while going for tertiary operations under the Rajiv Arogyashree scheme.

Health Minister U T Khader on Tuesday said that in lieu of the government asking APL families to bear 30 per cent of the costs under the scheme for tertiary care, the government will try to provide insurance at a nominal premium.

“We are considering this health insurance as several APL families may not be able to afford even the 30 per cent. Hence, at a nominal charge of Rs 500, we will try to provide them insurance to cover even this amount,” said Khader.

The minister, however, stated that the insurance scheme was still in its nascent stage.

 Inordinate delay

The scheme per se has been delayed inordinately. Khader justified the delay by saying that the Cabinet had cleared the proposal only a few weeks back. “We are likely to launch the Rajiv Arogyashree by the second week of December. A government order will be issued for the purpose,” he said.

The health department officials say that as many as 91 hospitals across the State have agreed to the terms of the scheme, to provide tertiary medical care to the APL families.
 On the issue pertaining to several private hospitals not acceding to the demands of the scheme, Khader said that almost all have accepted it.

“For those few hospitals which have not agreed to the Rajiv Arogyashree scheme guidelines but have an MoU with us for the Vajpayee Arogyashree (for BPL families), we may cancel the BPL MoU as well,” warned Khader. 

The State has already acceded to the demands of the private hospitals by agreeing to a 70:30 ratio for APL families getting admitted in general wards. Further, it has also given them a free hand to decide the rates for the semi-private and private rooms in hospitals which will provide the Rajiv Arogyashree scheme.

The government has said that it would foot 50 per cent of the bills for those APL families who opt for semi-private and private rooms in private hospitals, and the remaining 50 per cent must be borne by the families.