Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)

The government, over the last few years, has taken more responsibility towards extending the healthcare facilities towards all the sections of the society. Even people who belong to the unorganised worker’s category and live under the poverty line can now avail of the best health insurance services, thanks to the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). The service was launched in the year 2008 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This is an important medical insurance service as everyone deserves to live a healthy and illness-free life. The RSBY also brings about awareness about health care to the remotest of areas, something that is again very crucial for the overall wellbeing of the nation.

Coverages Available under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

Let us begin this article by looking at the health insurance coverages that are available to the poor people under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana:

Wide Network of Hospitals – There is a large number of hospitals that are enrolled under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. Almost all the public hospitals in the country honour the RSBY card. Some private hospitals also allow treatment under this health insurance scheme. This has made it easy for everyone to find a good health care facility close to their location to get the treatment they need. Previously, many people would find it difficult to find hospitals nearby where they could seek treatment. With a wide network now, it has become easier for them.

Very Safe – The people enrolled under the RSBY are issued smart cards. Every cardholder has to undergo a biometric evaluation with photographs and fingerprints. The hospitals at which they get treated, use the biometric database to honour their insurance claims. This makes it safe and free from fraudulent claims. In the past, people would stay away from government health schemes because of the complicated documentation process. But this simplified process now makes it easier for everyone to seek treatment.

Use of Smart Card – As mentioned above, every RSBY health insurance scheme member is issued a smart card. They can simply walk into a listed hospital, get the healthcare needs addressed and produce their smart cards when leaving. This makes it easy and less intimidating for the rural or uneducated people to avail this health insurance service. The smart card is also easy to use and easy to keep safe. They do not have to worry about losing important documents; just taking care of this one card is more than enough.

Cashless Health Insurance – No cash payments are needed – only producing the smart card takes care of the health care bills. This makes the process simple and hassle-free for the people who are enrolled under this health insurance scheme. For some people, even furnishing a mere sun of Rs 50 can be taxing. This is why the complete cashless feature is highly praiseworthy.

No Documentation – There are no documents involved in the RSBY. The smart card is the only document needed. This makes it easier for the hospital to offer the health care services and for the scheme holder to make use of them. People often falter when they are asked to arrange for and submit file loads of documents. This becomes especially difficult for the poor and uneducated people. The lack of documentation, therefore, is of great use to all these people.

These are indeed some very praiseworthy health insurance coverages that the government offers under the RSBY. It helps a lot of people to get the health care facilities they need, something that was a distant dream even a few years back.

People Eligible to Use the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

Here is a list of the people who can get an RSBY card and use the health insurance facilities on offer:

1. Construction labourers
2. Railway porters
3. Ragpickers
4. Beedi factory workers
5. House helps
6. Mineworkers
7. Sanitation workers
8. Rickshaw pullers
9. Drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxis

Anyone who earns a living out of any of the above-mentioned work can get benefitted by the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. A healthcare card needs to be made under this health insurance scheme.

Features of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

Listed below are the features of the health insurance cover provided under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. Take a look and see just how beneficial they are to the poorest sections of our society:

1. Objective – There are two main objectives of this health insurance scheme offered to the poor people of the country. First of all, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana aims to reduce the financial burden on the people who already live under the poverty line. A serious illness often leaves these people in a financial mess and they even avoid health care procedures due to the lack of finances. The RSBY scheme encourages people to get the treatment they need without having to worry about the financial aspect. Secondly, the health insurance scheme has been launched to bridge the gap between the health care needs of the poor and the availability of good health care facilities. By including more and more hospitals and healthcare centres in the scheme, the government is looking to bring the best health care services closer to everyone who needs them. No one deserves to stay without a good health insurance cover, and with the RSBY in place, everyone gets their basic rights in a rightful manner.
2. Coverage – The health insurance cover includes hospitalisation and a sum insured of Rs 30,000. Up to five members of a family can be included in this health insurance scheme. Pre-existing healthcare conditions are included from the first day of the health insurance cover. This is another highly commendable feature as it allows for complete diagnosis and treatment of everyone suffering from ailments.
3. Registration – It is very easy and inexpensive to enrol into the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. The government charges only Rs 30 towards the registration fees and this amount is charged to smoothly conduct the health insurance registration job. A prospective scheme seeker needs to walk into the nearest RSBY centre. There are several such centres that have been set up all across the country. Each centre has a list of the families that are eligible to get registered under this government-provided health insurance scheme. The head of the family needs to register himself and up to four dependent members. A smart card is then issued and the family can start accessing the health care facilities from day one.
4. Claim – The insurance claim process is equally simple. The healthcare centre where the treatment is given needs to send a copy of the smart card to the TPA or the insurance provider. The insurance company directly settles the insurance claim and the scheme holder can walk out of the hospital. The government has purposefully kept the health insurance claim process simple to encourage more and more people to use the health insurance facilities available under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. If the claim process would have been complicated, the people towards whom this scheme is directed perhaps may not have been able to use it with so much ease.

As you can clearly see from the points mentioned above, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana has some very good and thoughtful features included in it. The people for whom the scheme is made are actually benefiting quite a lot from it.

In a Nutshell

To put it in a nutshell, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is an excellent health insurance scheme offered to the lesser privileged Indians. It is an important scheme as many poor people are deprived of the health care needs that are basic to humans. With the introduction of this excellent health insurance initiative, many people are now getting to avail the treatment they need.