Insurance News: Free insurance is a hit, healthy; 10K benefit

In just three months since its launch, the state’s free health insurance scheme has  catered to more than 10,000 patients. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya  Yojana (RGJDAY), 10,203 patients (6,359 men and 3,844 women) have availed of free  treatment.

There were 11,861 patient approvals from eight districts of Maharashtra. Of these,  4,850 have availed of free treatment in empanelled hospitals in Mumbai.

“The state is providing insurance approvals to 100-200patients every day. We are looking at reaching out to more people,” said K Venkatesam, CEO, RGJDAY.

Most of the beneficiaries are poor people suffering from cancer, heart ailments and kidney problems. Nearly 10% of the patients who availed of the scheme suffer from cancer. “About1,366 patients are on chemotherapy, radiation or have undergone surgery for cancer. An equal number suffer from kidney problems who need to undergo dialysis but cannot afford to pay Rs8,000-Rs10,000 a month. They are getting free treatment under the scheme,” said Venkatesam.

The state has earmarked close to Rs200 crore for the cashless insurance scheme running on a pilot basis in eight districts of the state — Amravati, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Mumbai, suburban Mumbai, Solapur, Nanded and Raigad. “The state has insured close to 50 lakh families under the annual income bracket of less than Rs1 lakh with the National Insurance agency. Of these, 11,000-odd claims have been approved for treatments running into Rs37 crore in the first three months. Of this, Rs10 crore has already been disbursed by the insurance agency to hospitals,” said Venkatesam.

RGJDAY provides cashless hospital admission and covers a patient earning less than Rs1lakh a year. Treatments up to Rs1.5 lakh are made available to patients for free.