Bhubaneswar: Taking another step forward towards free universal health coverage in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will today launch the BSKY Nabin Card. With the launch of this Nabin Card, more than 3.8 crore people of Odisha will have access to health assurance. The Card will provide free treatment to patients registered under the scheme to avail free treatment at all government hospitals and more than 800 empanelled private hospitals across the country. The Card will provide annual coverage of Rs 5 Lakhs to all family members and Rs 10 Lakhs for women members of the family in Private Hospitals.
Earlier, CM Naveen Patnaik had said that “It has been my dream to provide universal health coverage to the people of Odisha, where healthcare is a right; accessible and affordable by all. To take this vision forward, the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana was launched 5 years ago bringing about a revolution in providing health assurance to the people of Odisha. BSKY coverage is being expanded phase-wise, to provide comprehensive health protection to the entire population of our State.”
He also said that “In the first phase of BSKY, all services in public health facilities were made free of cost for all persons, irrespective of income or residence . In the second phase, BSKY provided cashless healthcare in private health facilities for all ration card holders.”
“We are now launching the third phase of BSKY, where all left out families of rural areas of our State will be assured of cashless care in private hospitals, for critical ailments. In this phase of expansion, all rural families of Odisha (except regular government employees and income tax payees), who are presently not covered under BSKY, will be eligible to receive the “BSKY Nabin Card”. This will entitle them to cashless care of Rs. 5 lakh per annum (upto 10 lakh for women members of the family), in empanelled private hospitals both inside and outside the State, for identified critical illnesses,” the CM said.
With this third phase of expansion with BSKY Nabin Card, it is estimated that over 1.10 crore families, covering nearly 90% of the population of the State, will be provided health assurance under BSKY.