Insurance scheme to cover citys poor

BHUBANESWAR: Around 72,000 BPL families under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now be covered under health insurance. They would have to pay just Rs  30 per annum to avail of the benefit. The cover will be provided to the BPL families in a public-private partnership under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). Under the scheme, a BPL family, comprising five members, will be provided health insurance cover of ` 30,000. The family has to enrol after which they will be provided with a biometric smart card. During the enrolment procedure, photographs and biometric details (finger print) of the family head and four other dependants will be taken.  The smart card will carry the photograph of the family head, biometric details of the members and Unique Registration Number (UNR). The family members can use the card in any part of the country in hospitals identified under the RSBY scheme.  “The BPL families were identified based on a survey conducted in 1997, 2002 and 2004. The families will receive a cashless insurance scheme on completion of the enrolment process,” said Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena. The Labour Department has identified a private insurance company for the purpose. Under the scheme, while the Centre will pay 75 per cent of the premium, State will bear 25 per cent. At a workshop conducted by the BMC for its corporators on Monday, the BMC officials were briefed on the scheme and its operation. “The work will start as soon as the corporators are ready to conduct the enrolment process,” said an official from the insurance company. According to BMC officials, the enrolment process will be completed by May 31. Around 97,000 BPL families have already been covered in Khurda district. The State Government has identified around 13 public hospitals and 10 private ones in Khurda district under the scheme. Those include Capital Hospital, Community Health Centres (CHC) in Bankoi, Jatani, Balipatna, Mendhasal, Balugaon and Tangi.Amongst the private hospitals are Kalinga Institute of Medical Science, Sparsh, Hi-Tech and Maa Tarini among others.