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Rashtriya swasthya bima yojana operationalised smart card
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which was formally launched on the 1st October, 2007 has operationalised from April 01, 2008.
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
which was formally launched on the 1st October, 2007 has
operationalised from April 01, 2008. The Scheme envisages to provide
smart card based cashless health insurance cover upto Rs.30,000 to all
the BPL families in the unorganized sector in the next five years under
the Health Insurance Scheme. An estimated six crore BPL workers in all
600 districts in the country @ one lakh workers per district would be
covered @ 120
district per year starting from this financial year.
The Central Government has already issued Guidelines and a Draft Tender Document has been prepared and sent to all the States. The Draft Contract Agreement, to be signed between the Insurance Companies and respective State Governments, has also been finalized and circulated. Medical procedures and their costs have been standardized by a group of experts. The draft
MOU between Centre and the States has also been finalized.
On the IT front, Guidelines for Smart Card hardware and the operating software as also the software for issuing smart card have been finalized and released. Similarly, the specifications for smart card handling devices have been finalized with the assistance from the World Bank. For security against issuance of duplicate/fake RSBY smart cards, the NIC has developed a Key Management System (KMS). A certification system has been put in place for software to be used. Preparations are underway for a back-end data base management. All these tasks are highly technical in nature and time consuming but these are imperative for smart card operation.
When fully operational, these would make the scheme paperless.
Under the Scheme, total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family, per annum, on a family floater basis. It would operate through cashless transactions and would cover hospitalisation expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses with as least exclusions as possible. An initial allocation of Rs.250 crore has been made in the budget 2008-09. The Centre would contribute 75% of the annual premium whereas the States would be contributing the remaining 25%.
The Scheme also envisages the setting up of a Technical Cell to be set up by the Central Government to assist the States in preparation of projects and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the project. The States would put in place an institution for implementing the
Health Insurance Programme.
The use of smart card, making the scheme truly cashless, as also providing interoperability to facilitate use by migrant labour and use of IT applications on such a large scale for the poorest of the poor make this scheme unique in nature. The Scheme would use both public and private service providers for delivering the insurance package. It would also seek the contribution of Rs.30, by way of Registration fee, from the BPL beneficiary with a view to inculcating a sense
of ownership in them.
Fifteen States (Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Kerala, Punjab, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal) have advertised. States of Orissa and Himachal Pradesh are likely to advertise very soon. All States, except the States in the North-East and J&K, have formally communicated their ‘in-principle’ approval. The North-Eastern States and J&K have requested for greater contribution (90%) from the Centre and their proposal is under consideration of the Union Government.
Smart Cards have started rolling out in the States of Haryana and Rajasthan and are likely to roll out in NCT of Delhi from 1.4.08. Districts of Yamunanagar in Haryana and Jhalawar in Rajasthan are the first two districts where such cards are being issued. Remaining three districts of Haryana and seven of Rajasthan, along with nine districts of Delhi will commence rolling out in the following months. So far, more than 5000 smart cards have been issued.
The Enrolment software has, by and large, stabilized but the real challenge would be the operation of Transaction software which will be used in the hospitals. The specifications for Transaction Software have been approved and released. A Certification System has also been put in place. A couple of Service Providers have submitted the software for certification.
A bigger challenge would be the back-end data base management which would ultimately make the scheme paperless. This is a long term exercise which will take a few months.
Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37005
district per year starting from this financial year.
The Central Government has already issued Guidelines and a Draft Tender Document has been prepared and sent to all the States. The Draft Contract Agreement, to be signed between the Insurance Companies and respective State Governments, has also been finalized and circulated. Medical procedures and their costs have been standardized by a group of experts. The draft
MOU between Centre and the States has also been finalized.
On the IT front, Guidelines for Smart Card hardware and the operating software as also the software for issuing smart card have been finalized and released. Similarly, the specifications for smart card handling devices have been finalized with the assistance from the World Bank. For security against issuance of duplicate/fake RSBY smart cards, the NIC has developed a Key Management System (KMS). A certification system has been put in place for software to be used. Preparations are underway for a back-end data base management. All these tasks are highly technical in nature and time consuming but these are imperative for smart card operation.
When fully operational, these would make the scheme paperless.
Under the Scheme, total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family, per annum, on a family floater basis. It would operate through cashless transactions and would cover hospitalisation expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses with as least exclusions as possible. An initial allocation of Rs.250 crore has been made in the budget 2008-09. The Centre would contribute 75% of the annual premium whereas the States would be contributing the remaining 25%.
The Scheme also envisages the setting up of a Technical Cell to be set up by the Central Government to assist the States in preparation of projects and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the project. The States would put in place an institution for implementing the
Health Insurance Programme.
The use of smart card, making the scheme truly cashless, as also providing interoperability to facilitate use by migrant labour and use of IT applications on such a large scale for the poorest of the poor make this scheme unique in nature. The Scheme would use both public and private service providers for delivering the insurance package. It would also seek the contribution of Rs.30, by way of Registration fee, from the BPL beneficiary with a view to inculcating a sense
of ownership in them.
Fifteen States (Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Kerala, Punjab, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal) have advertised. States of Orissa and Himachal Pradesh are likely to advertise very soon. All States, except the States in the North-East and J&K, have formally communicated their ‘in-principle’ approval. The North-Eastern States and J&K have requested for greater contribution (90%) from the Centre and their proposal is under consideration of the Union Government.
Smart Cards have started rolling out in the States of Haryana and Rajasthan and are likely to roll out in NCT of Delhi from 1.4.08. Districts of Yamunanagar in Haryana and Jhalawar in Rajasthan are the first two districts where such cards are being issued. Remaining three districts of Haryana and seven of Rajasthan, along with nine districts of Delhi will commence rolling out in the following months. So far, more than 5000 smart cards have been issued.
The Enrolment software has, by and large, stabilized but the real challenge would be the operation of Transaction software which will be used in the hospitals. The specifications for Transaction Software have been approved and released. A Certification System has also been put in place. A couple of Service Providers have submitted the software for certification.
A bigger challenge would be the back-end data base management which would ultimately make the scheme paperless. This is a long term exercise which will take a few months.
Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37005
