Book suggests healthcare policy solutions based on RSBY

A new book, based on a study of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), intends to share insights that may be useful for other healthcare schemes including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY).

Titled "Healthcare for India's Poor – The Health Insurance Way", written by social sector expert Sonalini Khetrapal, the book explores RSBY's implementations, success and its drawbacks to suggest improvement in other healthcare schemes, publisher Academic Foundation announced Friday.

Speaking at the launch event, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan said that the book has "findings that are very important for us to understand".

Despite the scheme (RSBY), the children and the mothers did not receive healthcare benefits because the number of earlier schemes would be spent most of the time on the head of the family.

"Although the RSBY was hurriedly launched, in the context of the scheme by the present government, there is a big difference in the spirit in which these schemes were launched. I am very confident that India has the capacity to provide healthcare for its people and provide insights for the rest of the world," the minister said.

With the focus on universal healthcare as its backdrop, the book focuses on contract design and looks at the incentive structures created by the division of roles, responsibilities and relationships within the contracts.

It also examines the regulatory and political environment, and the institutional capacity to deliver quality services.

"A study published in the British Medical Journal found that in 2011-12, 5.5 crore people were pushed into poverty due to healthcare costs. As India works to implement the potentially game-changing PMJAY program, it is very important for policymakers to understand in what ways did RSBY succeed and where it failed. My book tries to analyze the implementation of RSBY to put forward the lessons it can offer for PMJAY," the author said.