Hectic activity in states as SECC data for Ayushman Bharat is verified
It is an important day for the biggest government funded health insurance plan in the world. A fortnight after prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Ayushman Bharat health centre in Chhattisgarh, the process of beneficiary verification for the National Health Protection Scheme kicks off today.
State machineries will swing into action for the purpose of updating the database of the socio-economic caste census, collecting mobile phone numbers and ensuring that nobody who is eligible for the health cover misses out on it or remains oblivious to their entitlements.
Together with a preventive healthcare plan for the development of 1,53,000 health and wellness centres across the country, NHPM is one of the pillars of Ayushman Bharat
Announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget this year, National Health Protection Mission (NHPM) envisages an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh for 10.74 crore families. Together with a preventive healthcare plan for the development of 1,53,000 health and wellness centres across the country, NHPM is one of the pillars of Ayushman Bharat.
Under the NHPM blueprint, the mobile number of the head of the family will be the identification of all members of the family. When they go to the hospital for treatment, merely saying that number will ensure that the hospital has access not just to their eligibility records but also the past medical records if any.
Ayushman Bharat Diwas on April 30 is designed to be both an outreach exercise to spread awareness about the mission among its intended beneficiaries and also an administrative necessity to ensure that the gaps in the SECC database are filled in before it becomes the official NHPM beneficiary list.
Says a government official: “The health ministry has tied up with the rural development and the panchayati raj ministries for the purpose. We are partners in the ongoing Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. On April 30 there will be government officials in every village in the country spreading the Ayushman Bharat word and also updating the NHPM beneficiary list. If the work is not done in a day, they will go door to door in the next few days.”
NHPM is expected to be launched either in August 15 or October 2, 2018.
