Port Blair, June 15: According to report published in various national media like the “The Pioneer” and “India.com”, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has finally signed MoU with the Central Government for implementation of Ayushman Bharat scheme in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, till now there is official indication from the side of Andaman and Nicobar Administration on this issue. However a few days back the Health Secretary Incharge had hinted Andaman Sheekha that Andaman will sign the Mou, which seems to have done on Thursday as per media reports.
It is however still not clear how Ayushman Bharat Scheme will be implemented along with ANISHI Scheme. While in ANISHI scheme patient gets mainland treatment only if they are reffered as per detail in Ayushman Bharat scheme patients can go and get treatment in any state in cashless mode. Hope the Andaman and Nicobar Administration will come out with a clear picture in coming days and issue press release regarding implementation of the scheme or atleast give detail about the status of the schme.
According to national media, those who inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre on Thursday at an event were Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, Laks-hwadeep, Puducherry, Daman and Diu, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
Non-BJP States like Delhi, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab are yet to come on board to ensure kicking off the scheme that the Centre sees as a game changer in the health sector.
As per government sources Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission will have a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission will be an entitlement based scheme with entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities.
To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be defined by the Government in advance) basis. One of the core principles of Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission is to co-operative federalism and flexibility to states.
For giving policy directions and fostering coordination between Centre and States, it is proposed to set up Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC) at apex level Chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister. States would need to have State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the scheme.
To ensure that the funds reach SHA on time, the transfer of funds from Central Government through Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission to State Health Agencies may be done through an escrow account directly. In partnership with NITI Aayog, a robust, modular, scalable and interoperable IT platform will be made operational which will entail a paperless, cashless transaction.
