PM rushes to insure half bn people before 2019 polls; tie up with hospitals

In March, the government had presented a draft bill on a social security program designed to cover the country's 500 million poorest workers, including those in informal sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to provide health insurance to half a billion Indians - a mass of people larger than the entire population of South America - before he seeks a fresh mandate next year is already facing serious hurdles.

Almost five months after announcing the ambitious program, the government is still working to lock in hospitals and insurance companies in time for its planned August launch. It aims to cover the poorest 40 percent in a country where a 2017 World Health Organisation report found spending on health pushed more than 52 million people below the poverty line.