Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 27
Jubilation was doing the rounds in the camp of Kohima’s Old Age Home on Saturday as its members accessed the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) scheme, through which they are now eligible to avail free treatment and medicines in some identified hospitals in the state.
Distributing health insurance cards to the members of the home at a brief function this morning, project officer Yanger of the Directorate of Labor said the card holders when faced with ill health, can now access free treatment and medicines at Oking Hospital and Bethel Hospital in Kohima and Faith Hospital in Dimapur.
The beneficiaries shall be eligible for financial cost-coverage of in-patient health care services as negotiated by the respective state government with the insurer, as well as agreed day-care procedures not requiring hospitalization.
Under RSBY scheme, the total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000 per family per annum on a family floater basis. The state’s department of Labor in a pamphlet stated that one of the major insecurities for workers in the unorganized sector is absence of health-cover for workers and their family members.
“Insecurity relating to absence of health cover, heavy expenditure on medical care and hospitalization is not only a social and psychological burden borne by these workers but there are significant economic costs resulting from loss of earning and progressive deterioration of health,” the pamphlet stated.
Despite the expansion in the health facility sector, ill-health issues remain one of the most prevalent causes of human deprivation in the country.
It has been clearly recognized that health insurance is one way of providing protection to poor households against the risk of health-spending leading to poverty, the pamphlet said. “Thus, with a view to providing health insurance cover to Below Poverty Line (BPL) workers in the unorganized sector and their families, the central government has announced the Rasthriya Swasthya Bima Yojana,” it stated.
‘Recognizing the diversity with regard to public health infrastructure, socio-economic conditions and the administrative network’ the Labor department, Government of Nagaland introduced the RSBY scheme in the state. T aims to facilitate launching of health insurance in all the districts of the state for BPL workers. So far, Kohima and Peren district had been covered under this scheme. The next phase will be Phek district. Unorganized sector workers belonging to BPL category and their family members (a unit of five) shall be the beneficiaries under the scheme.
The managing director of Old Age Home, Neithonuo Liegise thanked the department of Labor for making such scheme accessible to the inmates of the Home and she also wishes to see that it is implemented all over Nagaland. A member of the home, speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries thanked the Labor department, different agencies and well wishers for looking after them through various ways and means and hoped that they will continue to show their kind gesture towards their welfare and health care. Ajay from Smart IT Services, Kolkatta was also present at the function.
