By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 2, 2019: With the formation of governments at the centre and at the state, Odisha is likely to agree to roll out Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The Naveen Patnaik government launched its own health assurance scheme – Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) on August 15 last year, a month prior to the of Ayushman Bharat primarily keeping the election in view. The BJD government trumpeted that its scheme is much better than AB-PMJAY to woo voters.

However, with the elections over, a consensus among the State and Centre is expected to emerge for the roll-out of the scheme which provides health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per annum per family and improving rural health infrastructure.

CEO of National Health Authority (NHA) and AB-PMJAY Dr Indu Bhusan is expected to hold a meeting with the State Government officials on Tuesday on the modalities to finalise the launch of the scheme in Odisha, officials said.

BJP had aggressively campaigned for ‘double engine’ Government and blamed the State for not allowing the implementation of Central schemes, particularly, Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The State-sponsored BSKY provides annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family and Rs 7 lakh for women in Government and empanelled private hospitals, which has already gained popularity, as it covers both outdoor and indoor patients unlike the Ayushman Bharat that covers only indoor patients.

While over 69 lakh families (about 70 per cent population) were covered by Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana (BKKY), the Centre had indicated to support about 61 lakh families under the AB-PMJAY and there were no provisions for the left-out families that meet the deprivation. The non-coverage of eight lakh families was raised by the Naveen Patnaik Government.

The State had also urged the Centre’s permission to collect Aadhaar details at the Gram Sabha levels instead of doing the same at the time of hospitalisation to ensure the beneficiary is provided cashless service at the point of care without overly burdened with the verification process. Now, about 70 lakh families are covered under BSKY and Patnaik has promised to raise the coverage for women patients from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.