Health insurance scheme may include unorganised sector

The 2012-13 Budget is likely to expand the ambit of government-sponsored Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to include all unorganised workers. At present, the scheme covers unorganised sector workers and their families below the poverty line.
So, the expanded scheme would cover all unorganised sector workers irrespective of whether they fall below or above the poverty line.

The United Progressive Alliance government’s flagship health insurance scheme for unorganised sector workers covers 26.7 million below poverty line families. The government had allocated Rs 280 crore for the programme in the 2011-12 Budget.

But workers and their families covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme, Central Government Health Scheme or any such insurance scheme, won’t be eligible for coverage under the expanded RSBY. The labour ministry is expected to monitor the expanded RSBY, according to ministry officials.

Under the scheme, launched in October 2007, the government provides a health insurance cover of Rs 30,000 to every BPL worker and his family for in-patient cares.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently stressed on the need to make RSBY cover available for outpatient cares, as well. “We need to work towards hassle-free and cashless outpatient care in our public hospitals,” the PM had said.

Ministry officials said skill development could also find a prominent place in the finance minister’s Budget speech on March 16. Most ministries and departments have been instructed to prepare proposals on this.

The proposals would be sent to the Prime Minister’s advisor on skill development, S Ramadorai, before sending those for final approval. The Planning Commission had said in its Approach Paper to the 12th Five-Year Plan, “We should aim to increase the percentage of the workforce which has received formal skills through the vocational education system from 12 per cent at present to 25 per cent by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17). This would mean an additional 70 million people will have to be imparted formal skills in the next five years.”

Sanjeeb Mukherjee
http://www.business-standard.com/budget2012runup/news/health-insurance-scheme-may-include-unorganised-sector/466657/