LIVE TV
Odisha
Recommended Stories
Bhubaneswar: People having BPL cards in Orissa would be covered under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana from the next fiscal, official sources said on Monday.
This was decided at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. "The BPL families to be covered under the health insurance scheme will pay only Rs 30 per annum in order to get benefits," Patnaik said.
The state government decided to introduce the health insurance scheme in all the districts after implementing it in six selected districts on a pilot basis, sources said.
However, it was seen from the pilot project that the insurance company got a huge benefit to the tune of Rs 12 crore in a year as people failed to encash the facility, said labour and employment minister Pushpendra Singhdeo.
Stating that lack of awareness among BPL families only helped insurance companies, he said four insurance companies had shown interest in insuring poor families in the state.
As it was found that the beneficiaries were not provided with insurance cards by the insurance company in the pilot project, the minister suggested that the panchayat extension officers (PEO) would henceforth be given the responsibility of facilitating people to take benefits.
A family of five members could avail of assistance worth Rs 30,000 per annum as health expenses, the minister said adding a toll-free phone (number-155335) would be installed to help people in getting benefits.
The government would spend Rs 408 as premium money for each family. While the state government would bear the 25 percent cost of the premium amount, the central government had to give the rest of the money.
