Modicare will provide a shot in the arm for the healthcare sector, increasing the insurance cover per family by over 1500% from Rs.30,000 under the extant Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), to Rs.5 lakh.
The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, saw the unveiling of a mega healthcare project that is being touted as the world’s largest such scheme, in both extent, and expense. The National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), which has been dubbed ‘Modicare’ by Mr. Jaitley, has the objective of extending healthcare insurance to 100 million families, and raises the insurance ceiling to Rs.5 lakh per family.
The scheme will target up to 500 million individuals from financially vulnerable households, a demographic that accounts for 41.3% of the population, according to Census data. Under the NHPS, four in ten Indians can avail of secondary and tertiary care in government and private hospitals, within the insurance cap earmarked per family.
Secondary healthcare services include those provided by skilled medical practitioners, for outpatient treatment, or a brief stay at a hospital for serious illness. Tertiary care is for patients who are admitted to hospitals for longer bouts of illness, and require the attention of specialist doctors. Tertiary care is extended to patients who are suffering from acute pain, or terminal illness.
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