The government will soon allow private trusts to enroll themselves in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) if they pay their own premium. A decision in this regard is likely to be taken by the Cabinet in its meeting this week.
The proposal, if approved, would add a huge number of people to the scheme, which already offers health insurance to 2.5 crore families.
Even insurance companies feel that expanding this scheme would ensure more business. ?The more people are covered under the scheme, the more business we have. RSBY is doing financial inclusion in the real sense. If there is a mix of people, we can fix the prices accordingly,? said Nazeem Khan, vice president (financial inclusion services group), ICICI Lombard Gic.
He said the lower premium was not an issue as it was decided through a bidding process depending on various factors, like location.
The government had launched RSBY in 2008 to provide health insurance to BPL (below poverty line) families.
Later, it was extended to unorganised groups like street vendors, construction and domestic workers, and miners.
Under the scheme, a BPL family with maximum five members is entitled to R30,000 per year for hospitalisation coverage for most of the diseases.
While the beneficiaries pay only R30 as registration fee, the central government pays 75% of the total premium (90% in case of Jammu and Kashmir and states in the North-East), with the remaining premium being paid by the states. The scheme covers all pre-existing diseases and has no age limit for the enrollment of beneficiaries.
According to a labour ministry official, a number of private organisations have approached the government to participate in the scheme.
The government has already allowed some organisations like IFMR Trust, a non-profit organisation, and Manipal Education and Medical Group International Private to opt for RSBY on individual-case basis.