Rajasthan tops in health insurance in the country

Rajasthan which has provided ninety per cent of its population health insurance has emerged as the top state in health insurance in the country. On an average four out of every 10 persons in the country have health insurance, but in Rajasthan, nine out of every 10 people have health insurance.

While Rajasthan has covered 90 per cent of its population under the Chiranjeevi Beema Yojna- a state health insurance plan, the national average is only 41 per cent

During the BJP regime in the state between 2015-2016, the state government could provide health insurance to only 18.7 per cent. But after the Congress government came into power, the health insurance coverage improved.

A Union ministry of health survey has found that while the economically sound states were not a good performer on the health insurance front, Rajasthan has improved leaps and bounds in providing health insurance in both urban and rural areas. In fact, the health insurance coverage in the rural areas stands at 90 per cent while in the urban areas it is eighty per cent.

After Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh with 80 per cent was second in the list of high performers. These states are followed by Goa with 73 per cent, Chhattisgarh 71 per cent, Telangana and Meghalaya with 69 per cent each respectively. In Gujarat, the percentage was low at 44 per cent, and in another BJP-ruled state Madhya Pradesh, it was 38 per cent while in Haryana it was a mere 26 per cent ad Uttar Pradesh stood very low with 16 percent.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the state was a high performer because of the facility of health insurance of Rs 10 lakh is available for all citizens of Rajasthan under the Rs 3500 crore Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana. Families associated with Chiranjeevi Yojana and Rajasthan Government Health Service (RGHS) are now free from the worry of expensive treatment.

The government is trying to provide free treatment to every citizen of the state, he added.

The chief minister also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expand the ambit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana on the lines of the state's Chiranjeevi Yojana.

"I would again like to urge the prime minister to implement Ayushman Bharat Yojana for every citizen of the country, on the lines of Chiranjeevi Yojana of Rajasthan besides eligible families of Social, Economic, Caste Census-2011 (SECC) so that every family gets 10 lakh insurance benefit.

Last year, the Chief Minister had instructed the officials to get a door-to-door survey conducted for linking all eligible families to the Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme. He also asked them to connect more private hospitals having good health facilities and infrastructure across the state with the scheme so that a large number of beneficiaries can be benefitted by the scheme.

He said the state government started the ambitious scheme to provide free health Insurance to the people of the state. "The objective of this scheme is to provide cashless best health facilities to the people in government hospitals as well as private hospitals".

Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme, launched by the government of Rajasthan provides cashless medical insurance of up to Rs Five lakh to all the families of Rajasthan. The scheme was announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, during the state budget 2021-22. Starting from May 1, 2021, the benefits under the scheme were made available to all the families of Rajasthan.

The main criteria to be eligible for Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme Rajasthan is to be a permanent resident of Rajasthan. Others who are eligible for this scheme are SECC 2011 registered families, all other families, NFSA card holders, small farmers, and all departments' Samvida workers. Applicants for this scheme will have to pay Rs 850 annually to be able to avail the benefits under the scheme.

This scheme provides for a cover of nearly 1576 medical tests. It also offers cover for the treatment of various diseases.

It covers for healthcare expenses, tests, and a related package of 15 days after hospitalisation is also offered under the scheme.

Beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojana are also eligible to get the scheme.

Apart from diseases, the scheme also covers for COVID-19 treatments as well as hemodialysis for the poor.