In what could be a precursor to future community-based health insurance schemes for the poor in India, the first ever group health insurance scheme for 248 people living with HIV in six districts of Karnataka was launched on Wednesday.

The group health insurance scheme will provide Rs 30,000 as health cover for HIV-infected people, including

Rs 15,000 for hospitalisation at the onset of AIDS and Rs 15,000 for treatment.

The scheme was launched through the Karnataka Network of Positive People- a collective of people living with HIV, NGO Population Services International and the Star Health and Allied Insurance Company with the support of USAID. The Rs 1,500 premium for the Rs 30,000 insurance cover will be subsidised up to 50 per cent by the NGOs involved in the project.

National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) Director and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare K Sujatha Rao said the insurance scheme would address “important needs of People Living with HIV (PLHIV)”. “This will help them access timely care and live better lives. This is the first step in breaking down the financial barriers in accessing treatment for PLHIV,” she said.

The insurance cover will help people with HIV and having CD4 counts at 300 or below to access cashless treatment in about 300 hospitals in Karnataka. The scheme has been introduced in the high HIV prevalence districts of Bellary, Mangalore, Udupi, Mysore, Bangalore and Kolar.

Hospitals have been informed about the insurance cover and have also been instructed not to turn away HIV- infected people, assistant vice president for Star Health and Allied Insurance C P Udayachandran said.

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