Karnataka govt giving a push to its health insurance scheme

The Karnataka State Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) will soon roll out 64kb smart cards, instead of the current 32kb ones, for weaker sections of the society. This was announced on Monday at RSBY’s state-level review workshop here.

Although labour minister BN Bache Gowda felt the scheme had flaws, the organisers felt it has taken off well. Initially the scheme was meant for those below the poverty line (BPL), but was later extended to domestic helpers, vendors and others.
Across the country, more than 30 lakh smart cards have been issued, while in the state, about round 17.5 lakh residents have been provided the same.

“There has not been much programme penetration. People need to be sensitised about it,” Bache Gowda said. Recounting the early days of the scheme, he said, “When it was started, there were many issues. In 2009-10, the progress was slow because the RDBR data was defective. In 2010-11, they were rectified. This year, we are looking to reach out to more number of people. To achieve this goal, the cooperation of the deputy commissioners is required,” he said. The minister also cautioned the insurance companies to take precautions while appointing vendors.

“The sad part is that out of the 17 lakh-plus residents in the state who got the cards, only 13,261 have availed treatment,” rued the minister.

Doing well
However Anil Swarup, director general for labour welfare and the central joint secretary of labour and employment, said, “The scheme is being replicated in other places too. Places such as Bihar, Jharkhand and north-eastern states have even gone beyond this. Although there have been challenges, it is growing both horizontally and vertically,” he said.

“The central government has allowed this card to be used for housing, life and disability cover and public distribution system. Chhattisgarh has decided to do this,” he said.

While referring to the challenges, he pointed out that the major issue was reaching out to the real beneficiaries. “It has been found that there were frauds in the system. In fact, out of the 10,000 hospitals that have been empanelled, around 200 have been de-empanelled,” he said.

According to GS Narayanaswamy, secretary, labour department, the scheme has done well in districts such as Shimoga, Dharwad, Haveri, Bagalkot, Chikkamagulur, Uttar Karnataka and Bellary.

“The places that have the potential to do well are Mysore, Bangalore Belgaum and Gulbarga, which need to be tapped,” he said.