During the launch, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that the Smart Health Card will ensure a patient gets the best healthcare without any expense.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched 'Smart Health Card' under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), even as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic looms large over the country.
Known for his progressive and people-friendly governance, Odisha CM Patnaik has successfully carved a niche for himself in good governance. Of late he has been implementing various schemes for the benefit of the people of the state. Only last month, the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government declared Puri as the first city in the country to have city-wide safe drinking tap water which will be extended to 16 more towns in the coming days. The Chief Minister also started the one rupee rice scheme from Malkangiri, which is one of the remotest districts of Odisha.
The main vision of the Chief Minister behind this scheme is 'Healthy Odisha, Happy Odisha', said State Health Minister Naba Dash who termed this move as a 'historical decision'. Comparing it with Centre's Ayushman Bharat Yojana, he said that the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana is a much better scheme.
During the launch, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that this will ensure a patient will get the best healthcare without any expense. Describing the initiative as historic, the Chief Minister said that health is important for everyone and linked with the finances of the family.
Naveen Patnaik further added that the state government will now spend money on the treatment of its people. This will give people the opportunity to save money and spend it for the education of their children or other purposes. The Chief Minister said that healthcare is imparted in all government-run hospitals free of cost.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik clarified that all facilities including dialysis, chemotherapy, and different tests are now available in government hospitals.
Smart Health Card benefits
As per the scheme, people can avail quality healthcare services in 200 hospital chains across the country including Odisha with this card.
A person can simply go to a hospital with the card and avail any type of treatment without any hassle and not having to pay anything, the Chief Minister said.
Each family can avail treatment costing up to Rs 5 lakh per annum. For women, the treatment cost has been decided for up to Rs 10 lakh per annum.
It will benefit 96 lakh families and about 3.5 crore individuals in the state. From Malkangiri alone, 1.55 lakh families will be benefited.
All facilities including dialysis, chemotherapy and different tests are available in government hospitals free of cost.
All state and national food security beneficiaries, BPL cardholders and all Antyodaya and Annapurna Yojana beneficiaries in the state are eligible.
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 "Odisha's Smart Health Card")
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