Objective

• To recognise the diversity with regard to public health infrastructure, their socio -economic conditions and the administrative network.
• The health insurance scheme aims to facilitate launching of health insurance projects in all the districts of the States in a phased manner for BPL workers.

Working of RSBY

• This scheme is run in collaboration of both Centre & State government. Central government contributes 75% of the estimated annual premium i.e. Rs. 565 of total premium amount of Rs. 750 per family per annum and 25% by state government.
• Every Below Poverty line (BPL) subjects and their family members (a family unit of five) holding a yellow ration card is the beneficiaries under this scheme.
• The beneficiary has to pay Rs. 30 per annum as registration/renewal fee to get biometric-enabled smart card for identifying their eligibility.
• Under RSMY the beneficiary will be covered with medical care of up to ₹30,000 for the beneficiary per annum.
• All pre-existing illnesses are also covered from day one. Beneficiary is also eligible to receive transportation cost within a limit of Rs. 1000 per annum.

Recent Development

RSBY was revamped in October 2014 as a part of Shrameva Jayantey event to include the following:

• The revamped RSMY is set to enroll the RSMY’s beneficiaries’ bank account with Aadhaar card and also includes smart card, third-party audits and a call centre for grievances.
• Expansion of beneficiary by including workers from construction sector also. Currently revamped RSMY covers 3 crore workers.
• Single central smart card to be issued to include other welfare schemes like Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana and National Old Age Pension Scheme.
• RSBY will be responsible for providing secondary health care benefits also.

Transfer of RSMY from Ministry of Labour and Employment:

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) of the Labour and Employment Ministry was implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from 1st April 2015.

Revamped RSBY to be merged with National Health Assurance Mission:

The labour ministry on 16th October announced Its’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is set to be transferred to the health ministry as part of the proposed National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).

The proposed NHAM is expected to provide:

• Healthcare facilities including 50 essential drugs, with a package of diagnostics and about 30 AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoepathy) drugs as well as insurance benefits to all citizens.
• The NHAM plans to cover all aspects of health care including primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare.
• The labour ministry is also planning to merge the RSBY with two similar insurance schemes Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme to provide health insurance to unorganised sector workers.