The government may withdraw Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) from Maharashtra due to the state?s inability to properly implement the national health insurance scheme.
In a letter, the labour and employment minister Mallikarjun Kharge has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the performance of RSBY in Maharashtra has been extremely poor. ?On the account of want of desired commitment to implement the scheme, it is languishing in Maharashtra,? Kharge has in his letter.
According to a labour ministry official, the state has not been focusing on implementation of the scheme because it has announced its own similar scheme. Kharge has also written about Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan which have not yet implemented the RSBY in their respective states.
Andhra Pradesh has its own scheme, called Rajiv Gandhi Arogyasree. Though, the Centre has been pushing a lot for implementing RSBY in Andhra Pradesh, the state government, so far has decided to stay away from it. In Rajasthan, the state government has recently agreed to implement the scheme but it would be limited only to some districts.
?These are the three important states and comprise a large number of below poverty line families. In the absence of their wholesome participation, the scaling up of the scheme is being hampered,? Kharge has written in his letter.
The RSBY scheme was implemented in 2008. Under this scheme, the government provides health insurance worth up to R30,000 to the people below poverty line. The government has fixed the package rates for hospitals. The beneficiaries need to pay only R 30 as registration fee while Central and state governments pay the premium to the insurer selected by state government on the basis of a competitive bidding. The government of India contributes 75% of the annual premium. State governments contribute 25%. In case of North-East region and Jammu & Kashmir, the premium is shared in the ratio of 90:10. The scheme is already operationalised in 23 states.
?The fact that none of the government hospitals are empanelled for the scheme in Maharashtra reflects how well it is being implemented there. Though, all these issues have been discussed with concerned authorities, the government may want to give it (Maharashtra) a chance to implement it,? the labour ministry official, who did not want to be named, said.