According to information from an official, smart cards would be issued to families living below poverty line under nomenclature Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, a centrally sponsored scheme where a family has to pay Rs 30 for a year to get an insurance cover of Rs 30,000. All surgeries and major ailments would be covered and smart cards will be issued according to Centre's guidelines.
On condition of anonymity, one of the staff members of health department said the scheme has already been started in other districts of the state which include Patiala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, but due to less publicity, the scheme has not been able to get good response. He added that the insurance company members said without publicity, the scheme would not take off in the city. There have been schemes started in the civil hospital in the past such as that relating to telemedicine that have had few takers.
Dr Nirmal Jeet, deputy medical commissioner, said health department has tied up with Oriental Insurance Company and with some private hospitals too. She added that under the scheme, 30,000 people have been identified in the district. These include 17,000 people from urban areas while the rest are ruralites. Dr Jeet added that the insurance company has already discussed the publicity factor. Health department has ordered banners and would be approaching local channels so that messages relating to the scheme could be spread among masses.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Simran Virk
Quelle/Source: The Times of India, 07.02.2010
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