BHUBANESWAR:Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched his visionary healthcare programme Aayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) with a target to cover 50 crore population, Odisha Government claimed that the State has a better health assurance scheme that will be a model for all.
Odisha is one among five States that have refused to implement the Central scheme till their concerns are addressed. Other States which have rejected the scheme are Telangana, Kerala, Punjab and Delhi.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena said Odisha’s revolutionary Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), already launched over a month back, is a complete State-funded scheme unlike the PMJAY.
“Ours is different and better than the Central scheme. We are first to launch the healthcare scheme as an assurance model. The PMJAY is not completely Government-funded and is an insurance model which benefits insurance companies. Most importantly, BSKY covers both OPD and IPD patients while PMJAY covers only IPD patients,” he said.
Odisha is opposing Aayushman Bharat scheme since the very beginning as the Centre refused the State’s demand to include nearly 10 lakh left out families who are entitled for the benefits provided under the plan.
The BSKY would benefit around 70 lakh families. “People irrespective of income status and residence can avail all procedures including in-patient beds, surgeries, OT and ICU facility provided in public health facilities free of cost. This is going to be a game-changer initiative as entire population of the State can be benefited. But such facility is not available in PMJAY,” Jena said.
As per the National Health Profile 2018, out-of-pocket expenditure contributes nearly 95 per cent of the total household health expenditures while insurance contributes only five per cent.“Since out-of-pocket expenditure made directly by individuals at healthcare facilities are not covered under any financial protection scheme, we decided to make the scheme completely State-funded so that beneficiaries would not have to pay a single rupee for treatment,” Jena added.