Strategic Partnership

How the Government can collaborate with the private sector for successful implementation of Ayushman Bharat Scheme

- Rita Dutta

The Government of India in its budget proposals for year 2018-19 has announced the Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission that will have a defined benefit cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year as well as the opening up of 1.5 hundred thousand health and wellness centres. A beneficiary covered under the The National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/ private empanelled hospitals across the country. To control costs, it was announced the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be define by the Government in advance) basis. Forgiving policy directions and fostering coordination between Centre and States, the Government has proposed to set up Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC) at an apex level chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister. And states would need to have State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the scheme.

Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat-PMRSSM, has stated: “We need to design the scheme to ensure that the targeted beneficiaries get maximum benefits and we can expand access to quality health services in rural areas and tier-II and III cities."