₹100-crore insurance scheme for all

NEWDELHI: The government allocated ₹100 crore for a health insurance scheme for all Delhi residents, which it had been planning for two years. This follows the Centre’s National Health Protection Scheme, which aims to extend ₹ 5 lakh annual cover to 10 crore families.

“State after state will fall into this insurance trap. The state governments would definitely want to run their own schemes because of the political benefits, especially when the NHPS was announced without proper allocations,” said Samik Chowdhury, assistant professor of health policy research unit, Institute of Economic Growth.

The total outlay for the health sector in the budget for 2018-19 was ₹6,729 crore, 12.7% of the total budget outlay. Of this, ₹403 crore was allocated to set up 1,000 mohalla clinics and 150 polyclinics. Initially, the government allocated Rs 209 crore for mohalla clinics in November 2015, with an aim to complete the project by mid-2016. The government kept deferring the deadline when it ran into trouble over land.

“Land sites at 530 places have been identified to establish mohalla clinics ... and 94 dispensaries have been identified for starting polyclinics,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said while presenting the budget.

So far, the government has been able to get 164 mohalla clinics and 24 polyclinics up and running, of these around 100 mohalla clinics and 20 polyclinics had started working in 2016.

The government also reiterated its promise of doubling bed strength in government hospitals by adding three hospitals, two by the end of the year, and remodelling seven existing hospitals. Seven new hospitals in Madipur, Jwalaheri, Hastsal, Sarita Vihar, Deendarpur, Keshavpuram, and Chattarpur are also being planned. The government allo- cated R 450 crore for the project.

“The government hospitals might be optimal for treatment of Delhi residents, but nearly 50% of the patients at these hospitals are from neighbouring states. So, Delhi does need more hospitals and more primary and secondary care centres,” Dr MC Mishra, ex-director of AIIMS, said.

The government set aside R 20 crore for high end diagnostics provided free to patients. “Providing free medicines and diagnostics is better than providing insurance because it takes care of more than 60% of out of pocket expenditure, which even the insurance might not cover,” said Chowdhury.

SHUBHAM BINDAL, 21, a third year student at Shivaji College