Software glitches delay health cards

Health insurance scheme Most BPL families left without coverage as firms await Centre's nod

The delay in rolling out smart cards under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) by insurance providers has left more than 36 lakh of 41.45 BPL families in at least 59 districts of UP without any health insurance coverage.

A centrally-sponsored scheme, RSBY provides cashless health insurance worth Rs 30,000 to BPL families across the country. The facility is provided by selected insurance providers which provide the insurance cover for a year. The insurance cover has already expired in 59 districts. By June 30, it will expire in nine more districts.

The situation, say health officials, is because the insurance providers have not been able to get their new softwares for the scheme approved from the Centre.

The scheme was recently declared as one of the thrust areas of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's government, after which extra officials were appointed for the proper implementation of the scheme in the state. The state government had also agreed to implement the Centre's initiative to increase the memory space of RSBY smart cards from 32 kilobytes to 64 kilobytes.

Because of these changes, the scheme was already delayed in the state and as per the earlier arrangements, the three insurance companies — ICICI Lombard, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance — had to start making new smart cards by June 18.

However, the new softwares designed by the Third Party Associates (TPAs — which assist the insurance companies in implementation of the scheme) have not been cleared by the Centre till date. "The companies are awaiting software clearance from the Government of India. All the TPAs have submitted their software which are at different stage of clearance. One of the softwares is expected to get a clearance within a week, after which the companies will start rolling out the new cards," said Alok Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of RSBY.

... contd.

ALSO READ

Targeting SP, RLD cosies up to clerics

After Azam 'detention', Shivpal Yadav turns down US varsity invite

Shukla’s bail plea rejected

Priyanka Gandhi interviews candidates for ward presidents