Dismissing media reports that Rajasthan and Maharashtra are unwilling to join Centre's flagship health insurance scheme, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday clarified that both the states "fully support Ayushman Bharat".
Ayushman Bharat is a Central scheme which aims to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families providing coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per family every year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
"There are some news reports that Maharashtra and Rajasthan are 'reluctant' to join Ayushman Bharat. These reports are factually incorrect.
"Both states fully support Ayushman Bharat and are not reluctant to join it. Both states have strong health insurance schemes, which are currently operational," the Ministry said in a statement.
It said Maharashtra is implementing "Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana" since 2012 covering about 2.24 crore families, providing a benefit cover of Rs 1.5 lakh per family per annum and the proposed coverage under Ayushman Bharat is 84 lakh families.
It also said Rajasthan is implementing Bhamashah Health Insurance Scheme since 2015 covering about 92 lakh families, belonging to National Food Security Act and "Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana" providing a benefit cover to each family.
"However, the benefit package in terms of health conditions covered and total coverage per family of Rs 5 lakh are larger under Ayushman Bharat," the Ministry said.
"The two states are currently reviewing the financial and operational implications of the convergence with Ayushman Bharat to avoid any disruption of services, and ensure that the convergence can be done efficiently and current legal contracts can be honored," it added.
--IANS
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