Ayushman rolls out in Bengal with 1.4cr family log-ins, opens access to 36k hospitals

Kolkata: The state on Monday formally joined Ayushman Bharat, the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, enabling residents of the state to access cashless treatment at over 36,000 empanelled hospitals across the country. Bengal was the only remaining state/UT that had not join Ayushman Bharat earlier.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi in the presence of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, chief secretary Manoj Agarwal, Union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union minister of state for health Anupriya Patel and senior officials from both the Centre and the state.

Welcoming the agreement, Adhikari thanked the Centre and said the state’s inclusion in the scheme would ensure that its residents receive the same health care benefits available to citizens across the country.

The CM also criticised the previous Trinamool Congress govt for refusing to adopt the scheme when it was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sept 23, 2018.

Taking a dig at the previous Trinamool govt, CM said, “Only three states — Odisha, Delhi and Bengal — didn’t join Ayushman Bharat, and see what happened. The govt changed in all three states. The anti-development forces were defeated and double-engine govts were formed.”

He stated that following signing of the MoU, Ayushman cards will be distributed among 1.4 crore eligible families in the state. The Swasthya Sathi scheme would be integrated into Ayushman Bharat and all 1.4 crore family data would be brought on the portal of the National Health Authority (NHA).

“Over 1,100 private hospitals in Bengal have applied for empanelment. I would like to request the Centre to empanel those hospitals as soon as possible, which will help them in getting necessary funds for expansion and improvement of services,” CM said.

Welcoming the development, Woodlands Hospital CEO Rupak Barua, who is also the president of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI), said: “This is a landmark step in healthcare and will help to extend access to quality treatment to a large section of the people. We have already set up a help desk at Woodlands and are ready to offer Ayushman to patients who have the cards.”

According to the chief secretary, around 40 lakh senior citizens above the age of 70 in the state would be covered under a dedicated package, with health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh funded by the Centre. The state govt also announced that more than two lakh ASHA workers would be covered under the scheme. “Around 6.5 crore people in the state will be benefitted,” Agarwal stated.

Charnock Hospital MD Prashant Sharma said: “This will help to extend the scheme to a significant section of the population. For the beneficiaries, it hardly matters who is bearing the cost. Whether it is the state or the Centre, if coverage is extended through a seamless integration, we should have a sizeable section of Swasthya Sathi beneficiaries covered. We are ready to admit patients under the scheme and have enough experience of handling patients under various other govt schemes that we already offer.”

The CM also stressed that the benefits would extend to Bengal natives residing outside the state.