West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday launched the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the state alongside the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana, saying the two programmes together would cover 1,240 private hospitals and 627 government medical facilities. He said beneficiaries would be able to access treatment in West Bengal as well as in hospitals across the country.
Addressing the ‘Ayushman Diwas’ event, Adhikari said the integration of the central and state schemes would expand access to healthcare and specialised treatment beyond the state. He said around 38,600 hospitals nationwide would be available to beneficiaries, while those not eligible under Ayushman Bharat would be covered under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana.
“Earlier, the state government’s scheme was limited to West Bengal. Now, you will get the benefits across India,” he said. Adhikari said around 80 lakh families were likely to be covered under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana. He also said the schemes would cover around 1,950 treatment packages, up from more than 1,700 procedures under the state’s earlier health scheme.
Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee had said on Friday that beneficiaries under the scheme would be entitled to cashless health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. He had also said the Centre had allocated around Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of Ayushman Bharat in West Bengal, accounting for 60 per cent of the funding, while the remaining 40 per cent would be borne by the state.
Adhikari said beneficiaries would also have access to 100 ‘Amrit’ pharmacies and around 480 Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi centres at government hospitals across the state after agreements reached under the programme. He said the state government had also introduced an eye care programme and added that he himself had undergone an eye check-up under the initiative.
The chief minister said some private hospitals in the state, including those run by the Ramakrishna Mission, had raised concerns over reimbursement rates under the schemes. “Some hospitals have said they are in Category B, while rates in cities such as Mumbai and Chennai and at institutions like CMC Vellore are different. I assure you that the government will look into their concerns,” he said. He added that the state government would work with private hospitals to ensure beneficiaries received quality treatment without disruption.
Referring to the earlier health scheme, Adhikari said some facilities had been available only to a section of the population and were not universally accessible. He said bringing Ayushman Bharat together with the state health insurance scheme would give people wider access to specialised medical facilities outside West Bengal, and appealed to government and private hospitals to work together to strengthen healthcare delivery in the state. Health cards were also distributed at the event.
Overall, the launch brought the central and state health insurance schemes together to widen hospital access, increase treatment coverage and extend benefits beyond West Bengal, while the state government said it would address concerns raised by private hospitals during implementation.
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With PTI inputs
