BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government said on Friday that it decided to launch Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) following a disagreement with the Centre over number of beneficiaries and fresh enumeration for the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) - Ayushman Bharat.
As a new political controversy is unleashed over Ayushman Bharat vis-a-vis BSKY, Health Minister Pratap Jena said the Centre had proposed inclusion of 61 lakh families as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011 and sought a list of beneficiaries after fresh enumeration which was not acceptable.
“We had demanded inclusion of 69 lakh families, including 44 lakh covered under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and 25 lakh under Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana (BKKY),” he said.
When the Centre did not accept the figures, the State Government decided to reject the NHPS and launch its new scheme, Jena said. The Government claims that its own health assurance scheme would cover more families than the number of households which were to be included in the Central scheme.
“The new scheme would cover 70 lakh families including beneficiaries of both RSBY and BKKY and 1 lakh more families which are not yet covered under both the schemes but pass the eligibility criteria of Odisha State Treatment Fund (OSTF),” he said.
The Centre’s figure was not acceptable to Odisha on two grounds. First, the number of families would be more as already 7 years have passed since the last SECC and many families would have split. Second, fresh enumeration would be time-consuming and create confusion.
Insiders say States which are either ruled by BJP or do not have health schemes like Odisha, have accepted the Central scheme. West Bengal, Punjab and Union Territory (UT) Delhi have not yet accepted the NHPS. Of 33 States and UTs which expressed interest to implement the scheme, 20 have signed the MoU so far.
What the guidelines state
Only BPL families are eligible while farmers’ families not filing IT return and without salaried members are included in BKKY. Persons with annual family income not exceeding Rs 40,000 in rural area and Rs 60,000 in urban areas can avail assistance under OSTF. However, Free Health Services scheme announced recently by the State Government would provide treatment to all patients, irrespective of income level, free of cost at public hospitals up to district level. Though both NHPS and BSKY will provide health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year, under the NHPS, which is mostly an insurance model, the annual premium of not more than Rs 2,000 per family will be borne by both the Centre and State on 60:40 ratio.
No financial burden
The Health Department insists that BSKY would not put more financial burden on the State. “We are already covering 69 lakh families. Though RSBY beneficiaries are entitled to hospitalisation coverage up to Rs 30,000 per annum for which the Centre’s share is 60 per cent of the premium, the coverage was extended up to Rs 1 lakh here and the State was bearing the entire premium cost for the rest Rs 70,000,” it added.
