Panel to take up health cess, insurance for the poor today

A committee comprising secretaries to the ministries of finance, chemicals and petrochemicals, and health will meet tomorrow to discuss the issue of health cess that the government plans to introduce in the forthcoming pharmaceutical policy.

They will also discuss the proposed national health insurance scheme. While the ministry of chemicals and petrochemicals has mooted a 1-2 per cent health cess in the first part of a draft pharmaceutical policy, the committee will also consider the option of a budgetary allocation.

Among various disbursement heads that is to be taken care of from the money mopped up through the health cess, as much as Rs 3,000 crore will go into creating a nationwide health insurance scheme called the "Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (National Health Insurance Scheme)". If not for the cess, the government may have to dole out this sum as a budgetary allocation.

"To cover everyone below the poverty line (BPL), it will take up to Rs 3000," said an official.

ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Allianz had shown interest to be part of this project, now four public sector firms, National Insurance Co, New India Insurance, Oriental Insurance Co and United India Insurance Co have also sought to participate in it.

The proposed BPL insurance scheme had provisioned that 100 per cent payment of the premium for BPL families would be done by the government, added the official.

Under the scheme, Rs 15,000 per annum would be earmarked as hospitalisation expenses and, as a feature unique to this scheme, another Rs 5,000 would be provided for non-hospitalisation expenses.

The scheme might eventually be extended to families above the poverty line as well but there were differences over where to draw the line of eligibility in this segment, said another industry source.

While the bills from any hospital would be acceptable, prescriptions of a government doctor will be mandatory to avail of the non-hospitalisation as a measure against fake bills.