Mamta Banerjee schools Centre on healthcare

A day after West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee announced that the state would not partake in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), bureaucrats from West Bengal delivered a detailed presentation in New Delhi on the state's already existing 'Swasthya Sathi' scheme.

Niti Aayog is holding a nation-wide stakeholders consultation with all states and union territories on February 15 and 16 over the scheme.

CM Banerjee has sent two representatives — Vinod Kumar, secretary and state nodal officer for Swasthya Sathi, and Tusharkanti Pathak, additional nodal officer, to explain how the state's scheme works.

DNA got exclusive access to a closed-door meeting of the working group during the consultation.

In the meeting, Vinod Kumar, said, "We are already providing coverage of upto Rs 5 lakh in the state-run scheme. Our scheme is technologically advanced as the beneficiaries are provided with a Swasthya Sathi card which is a 64 kilobytes smart card used to provide cashless services."

Kicked off in December 2016, the scheme extends an annual coverage of Rs 1.5 lakh a person through insurance.

If the cost crosses Rs 1.5 lakh in certain critical illnesses like cancer, neurosurgery, orthopaedic and cardiological diseases, then the government chips to foot expenses up to Rs 5 lakh.

As many as 45 lakh families, or up to 2.5 crore people, are covered under the state scheme.

"We already have fraud detection systems in place for potential misuse. An online application is available for hospitals who wish to be empanelled, the medical records of patients are uploaded online, everything is managed electronically," added Vinod Kumar.

He said that dedicated helplines across districts and a call centre work for the benefit of rural population and redress their grievances under the scheme.

Also, the state has provided a smartphone application for patients, he said.

"If a patient falls sick, he can search for the nearest hospital using the app," said Vinod Kumar.

"On the face of it, it appears that West Bengal may not opt for the NHPS after all, as it is keen on continuing the state-based scheme as of now. If Banerjee changes her mind to subsume her pet Swasthya Saathi project into Modi's NHPS remains to be seen," an official told DNA on the sidelines of the meeting.

State Scheme

• Kicked off in Dec 2016, Swasthya Sathi extends an annual coverage of Rs 1.5 lakh. 
• If the cost crosses Rs 1.5L for critical illnesses, the govt chips in for further expenses up to Rs 5 lakh. 
• As many as 45 lakh families, or up to 2.5 crore people, are covered under the state scheme. 
• Dedicated helplines and a call centre work to redress the grievances of the rural population.