[Ranju Dodum]
ITANAGAR, 7 Mar: Last year, a report by the Public Health Foundation of India and the Duke Global Health Institute, US, revealed that India’s flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), did not live up to expectations across much of the country to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, in Arunachal Pradesh, the scenario was already playing out differently.
Unlike in other states, in Arunachal, after the initial hiccups, the state government rolled out free Covid-19 care for residents. That, along with the PM-JAY and the Chief Minister Arogya Arunachal Yojana (CMAAY) has helped mitigate healthcare for several people across the state.
Together, the two schemes provide enhanced coverage of Rs 5 lakhs for each family to provide quality healthcare.
The CMAAY also provides cashless treatment for financially weaker families in what it calls is the ‘assurance mode’ and replaced the previous CM’s Universal Health Insurance Scheme (CMUHIS).
The CMUHIS had failed to take off for several reasons, including the hesitancy from several private hospitals, especially outside the state.
However, the CMAAY hopes to address some of the earlier issues and provide for better health coverage for the people of the state.
The CMAAY aims to provide cashless hospitalisation to poor and vulnerable groups for up to Rs 5 lakhs per family per year. All the beneficiaries can avail benefits of this health assurance scheme in any empanelled hospitals through a new web portal https://cmaay.com/CMAAY_home.aspx. The stated aim of the scheme is to ensure ‘health for all’.
Those eligible for coverage under the scheme are people of the Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST), non-APST residents of Changlang, Lohit and Namsai possessing resident certificate (RC) who are people with permanent land holding documents, and state government employees and their dependents.
So far, under the CMAAY, 1,11,030 families with 4,78,803 individuals have registered for the insurance scheme across the state.
Apart from providing cashless service for major health issues, the CMAAY also provides coverage for pre-hospitalisation up to three days and post-hospitalisation for up to 10 days. Another key component of the CMAAY is that it also provides coverage for pre-existing diseases, which major insurance policies often do not.
Data from the health department reveals that, while the Tomo Riba Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) tops the list of the top 10 empanelled hospitals, its services are greatly being availed across the state and outside the state.
The other hospitals that have seen widespread usage of the CMAAY are the Bakin Pertin General Hospital in Pasighat; the Khan Drowa Zangmo District Hospital in Tawang; the B Baruah Cancer Institute in Guwahati; the Christian Medical College in Vellore (Tamil Nadu), and the NEIGRIHMS in Shillong.
