J&K Government has started registration process for the mega health insurance scheme meant to cover the ‘entire population of the UT’. In 10 days, 3.61 lakh people have enrolled themselves.
The J&K Health Insurance Scheme announced earlier this year by the UT Government will be rolled out in November, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Atal Dulloo said.
He said that registration for availing the scheme which envisages Rs 5 lakh health insurance cover to every family in J&K had already started at Common Service Centers. “The response is overwhelming. In just 10 days, we have 3.61 people enrolled,” he said.
The registrations for the scheme will continue and no cut-off date has been set for it, he said adding that the Health Insurance Cards will be issued next month, once the scheme is launched. The launch is slated for November as per the H&ME department.
“People can then avail benefit of over 1600 packages across hospitals and get cashless healthcare for the entire family on a floater basis, up to Rs 5 lakh annually,” Dulloo said. Non-communicable and life threatening diseases – cancer, stroke, chronic kidney disease, heart disease and others that have a huge burden on pockets of people will be covered under the scheme.
Although there have been reports of Domicile Certificate being sought for registration, Dulloo said a ration card and an Aadhar Card would suffice for the purpose of registration. “We need to ascertain the family size and identity and that can be done through these two documents,” he said.
The previously launched health insurance scheme – Ayushman Bharat, had been partially successful in J&K owing to the ‘faulty demographic data’, a senior health official said.
He said that the insurance cards had been provided on the basis of a socio-demographic survey pertaining to socio-economic caste census (SECC) database created in 2011, which was not “the best estimate of the economic status’ of a family.
He said that those people who are citizens of J&K by birth do not need any additional documents. “We will still constitute a committee at Tehsil level to monitor seamless registration,” he said. Gujjar, Bakerwals and other migratory population will also be included, he said.
H&ME department said there was income slab on this new scheme being worked out. “Anyone from any economic strata could avail the benefits,” Dulloo said.
In order to speed up registration and increase awareness about the scheme, he said, an IEC campaign was also in the pipeline. Government has also invited suggestions for the name of the scheme.
LG reviews scheme’s core features
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today chaired a meeting to review the core features of the JK Health Insurance scheme and the process of approvals of Golden Cards.
Stressing on extending the benefits of the JK Health Insurance scheme to all the citizens of J&K, the Lt Governor directed the concerned officers to take comprehensive measures to ensure the coverage of each and every family of JKUT under the scheme, not covered by for Ayushman Bharat, an official handout said.
“We are aiming to improve the health care system of J&K to make it best in the country and to provide universal health Insurance coverage to all the residents of the Union Territory,” he said.
It was informed during the meeting that the entitlement based health scheme is an operational extension of Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB PM-JAY) under which an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh will be provided per family per year to all residents of J&K, covering 15 lakh additional families.
The benefits of the JK Health Scheme will be portable across the country in more than 23,000 hospitals under 1,589 packages.
Through this scheme, the J&K Government is facilitating affordable healthcare facilities for the overall welfare of its residents and all the stakeholders must work in a coordinated manner to ensure that its benefits percolate to each and every resident hassle-free, the Lt Governor maintained.
It was informed that a robust mechanism has been laid for the inclusion of families, as may be missing from Socio-Economic Caste Census-2011 (SECC-2011) data.
While reviewing the status of registrations under JKHS, Lt Governor directed for conducting massive awareness regarding the New Health Scheme for JKUT, through print and electronic media.
Taking stock of the coverage of beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat, the Lt Governor directed for increasing the magnitude of registrations and called for 100% saturation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme so that the maximum population can avail of its benefits.
Reaching out to the people with sincere efforts like the JK Health Insurance scheme will play a significant role in achieving the Government’s objective of providing quality and accessible healthcare services to the people of J&K, he added.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Simrandeep Singh, Administrative Secretary Department of FCS&CA and Secretary Public Grievances (Additional Charge); Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director National Health Mission/CEO AB-PMJAY, and Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar, Udhampur, Reasi, and Baramulla, attended the meeting, in person and through virtual mode.
