The blueprint states, “Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) will provide to each State, SECC data with targeted families flagged based on criteria defined by MoHFW.”
As a two-day consultation over National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) drew to an end, several concerns emerged over the use of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data to identify and enrol beneficiaries.
A state-level official pointed out that residence addresses of those covered under SECC are unavailable. “The exercise will involve matching SECC data to other databases to cull out addresses,” an official at the consultation told DNA. NHPS is targeting to cover 10 crore poor families with an insurance of Rs 5 lakh per family.
DNA exclusively accessed the blueprint of NHPS, a document that the Centre has shared with all states. The blueprint states, “Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) will provide to each State, SECC data with targeted families flagged based on criteria defined by MoHFW.”
States are rather uncomfortable with this and proposed that each state should be given liberty to make a list of beneficiaries through varied means rather than just relying on SECC data. For example, Maharashtra, which implements Mahatma Jyotibai Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), dynamically revises its list of beneficiaries each month with aid of Food and Civil Supplies Department. “We pay premium only against the number of ration cards that are found eligible that month. Cases of additions and deletions of families are thus taken care of,” said an official.
Another official from Maharashtra said, “While currently 90% of beneficiaries avail medical benefits of Rs 1.5 lakh on hospitalisation and upto Rs 2.5 lakh for renal transplants and immunosuppressants under MJPJAY, if we go by SECC data, then only 30%-40% will be able to avail of NHPS. There will be a divide. Therefore, the decision to implement NHPS will be a political one.”
Cash-strapped states will find it difficult to extend NHPS to their current pool of beneficiaries which will create a dichotomy in implementation of an ideal Universal Health Coverage (UHC) model.
An official from another state, who did not wish to be identified, said, “SECC data was curated in 2011. It is old data. Many families may have been deleted or added to Below Poverty Line (BPL). We cannot rely on such data.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "HOSPITAL")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}