Cabinet clears health protection plan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21

The Cabinet today cleared the ambitious National Health Protection Mission, which seeks to provide a financial protection to 10 crore families in insurance, trust or mixed mode, as decided by states.

The Cabinet clearance came for Ayushman Bharat project of the government which has two pillars — health protection and expansion of primary care through 1.50 lakh health and wellness centres.

Health Minister JP Nadda said NHPS was “one of the world’s largest public health programmes and seeks to safeguard 50 crore people. It gives flexibility to states to decide whether they want to implement the mission in trust mode, insurance company mode or mixed model. National Health Protection Mission provides ease to be merged with the ongoing health protection or insurance schemes in various ministries and governments.”

The mission also allows national portability which means a patient can avail of the services anywhere in India. Comprehensive Primary Health Care project under Ayushman Bharat seeks to shift focus from selective to comprehensive primary healthcare that includes care for common non-communicable diseases, geriatric health care, palliative care. Wellness centres will provide free screening for diabetes, hypertension, breast, oral and cervix cancers.

Further, 12 services, including free universal screening for common non-communicable diseases, will be part of this project. The Cabinet today also approved continuation of the Prime Minister’s Development Package 2015 for Jammu and Kashmir to support the comprehensive reconstruction of health infrastructure.

Ayushman Bharat was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the recent Budget speech.

Insurance cover for surrogates 

• The Cabinet approved a comprehensive insurance coverage for a woman acting as a surrogate to an intending couple and also cleared new clauses in the pending surrogacy Bill to prevent exploitation of the surrogate
• Amendments to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, put all other assisted reproductive technologies (such as IVF) out of the purview of surrogacy law and say a separate draft ART Bill is being readied
• The amendments ensure 16 months of extended insurance coverage for the surrogate mother to cover all complications and parallel the rights of the child born through surrogacy to that of a natural child