The Gift Of Health

Ayushman Bharat can do to healthcare what GST is expected to do to India’s indirect tax regime. But there are challenges, too.

- Joe C. Mathew

STARTING AUGUST 15, Aarogyasri, Telangana state government’s highly successful health insurance scheme, may add a prefix – Ayushman Bharat (AB) – to its name.

That will not be the only difference. The scheme provides a ₹2 lakh annual health coverage to below poverty line (BPL) families of the state and this will now be enhanced to ₹5 lakh. Instead of the 949 treatment packages that are being offered now, Ayushman Bharat – Aarogyasri will offer 1,350 treatment packages. The scope of the coverage might also see some increase as every family that finds mention in the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) list of the Central government will be automatically entitled to avail the benefits under AB-Aarogyasri.

The makeover is part of an integration process that will see Telangana’s own health insurance scheme becoming part of a national scheme, Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Scheme (AB-NHPS), that is expected to be officially rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day.

The mega health scheme, termed by some as Modicare, was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, while presenting the Union Budget 2018/19. The coverage universe of AB-NHPS is the 10 crore poor and vulnerable households (approximately 50 crore individual beneficiaries) that figure in the SECC list. In mid-June, 20 states including Telangana, signed MoUs with Ayushman Bharat Mission, the Central government entity formed to administer this scheme, to express their willingness to be part of the project. Most of them had state-level health insurance schemes like that of Telangana and all of that will now have the prefix – AB.