Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna:

For BPL, effect of illness:

o   Threat to their earning capacity

o   Expenditure on treatment can push family into debt trap

o   They may have to sell house, cut the expenditure on education

o   May loose the wage for being absent

o   Savings can be wiped out

Health insurance is remedy to their all problems. Govt. has launched the scheme of health insurance for poor people. This is not a new Idea, govt. earlier too had many health  insurance schemes but none of them could achieve the intended objectives. Govt. learnt from the failures and now has launched a this scheme-RSBY.

What is RSBY?

Ø RSBY has been launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India to provide health insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Ø The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization.

Ø Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization.

Ø Government has even fixed the package rates for the hospitals for a large number of interventions.

Ø Pre-existing conditions are covered from day one and there is no age limit.

Ø Coverage extends to five members of the family which includes the head of household, spouse and up to three dependents.

Ø Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State Government pays the premium (Ratio 75:25 and For North East & JK 90:10) to the insurer selected by the State Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.

Unique Features of RSBY:

Ø Empowering the beneficiary: Provides freedom of choice between public and private hospitals and make them a potential clients

Ø Business Model for all Stakeholders- incentive for all stakeholders

Ø Intermediaries- NGOs, MFIs also being paid for their services

Ø Govt.- by paying only Rs. 750/- per family per year, the govt. able to provide access to quality health care to the BPL.

Ø It will increase the competition between public and private hospitals , hence the functioning will improve.

Ø Use of Information Technology: Biometric enabled smart card containing their finger prints and photographs. All hospitals are IT enabled and connected to the server at the district level. This will ensure the smooth data flow regarding service utilization periodically.

Ø Safe and Foolproof- the use of biometric enabled smart card and key management system ensure that the card reaches the correct beneficiary and there remains accountability in terms of issuance of the smart card and its usage.

Ø Portablity- Smard card can be used in any RSBY empanelled hospital across India- Helpful of migrant workers

Ø Cashless and paperless transactions-

Ø Robust monitoring and evaluation- backend data management system- track on any transaction across India and provide periodical analytical reports. This allows mid-course improvements in the scheme.