National Health Protection Mission to cost to Rs 12,000 crore annually

The Central government’s ambitious health insurance project Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), which aims to provide 10 crore poor families with a cover of Rs 5 lakh each to meet expenses in case of hospitalization, is expected to cost up to Rs 12,000 crore annually and is likely to be rolled out on August 15 or October 2, Niti Aayog officials disclosed. The National Health Protection Scheme, termed ‘Modicare,’ will be funded with 60 per cent contribution coming from the Central government and 40 per cent from the states, said NITI Aayog advisor Alok Kumar. The premium for availing health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh is expected to be around Rs 1,000-1,200 annually for every household, which will be borne by the Centre and the states, he explained. Paul said while the Centre will bear an annual burden of around Rs 5,000-6,000 crore towards premium on health cover, the remaining amount will come from the state governments. In the first year, the burden on the Centre is likely to be around Rs 3,000 crore. The states will be given the choice to either opt for insurance based model or trust based model for implementing the scheme, he added. According to Vinod Kumar Paul, Niti Aayog member, and architect of the scheme, the 1 per cent additional education and health cess would be sufficient to meet the cost of the scheme. All the poor people identified in the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 will be eligible for the scheme, Kumar said. It will be linked to Aadhar but this will not be a mandatory condition for availing the benefit. The finance minister said the scheme will be cashless and not a reimbursement one and promised more funds if required depending on the rollout.