To provide universal health coverage to the people, the State Government on Friday launched a ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) Nabin Card’ for all families in rural areas who were not covered previously.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said this would ensure that no family in Odisha is left vulnerable due to lack of financial resources to meet high expenditure for critical illnesses. “Sustha Odisha, Sukhi Odisha” has been the driving force behind all interventions in the health sector in the State.

The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana was launched five years ago bringing about a revolution in providing health assurance to the people. The BSKY coverage is being expanded phase-wise to provide health protection to the entire population of our State, he said.

In the first phase of BSKY, all services in public health facilities were made free of cost for all persons, irrespective of income or residence. In the second phase, the BSKY provided cashless healthcare in private health facilities for all ration card holders. Under BSKY, every month over 45 lakh persons receive free health care at public health facilities in the State while 1.3 lakh persons receive cashless care. This amounts to Rs 260 crore each month in empanelled private hospitals.

In the past five years, the BSKY has provided nearly 21 lakh patients with cashless healthcare of about Rs 4,500 crore in private hospitals alone, the CM said.

“We are now launching the third phase of BSKY, where all left-out families of rural areas will be assured of cashless care in private hospitals for critical ailments. In this phase, all rural families (except regular government employees and income tax payees), who are presently not covered under BSKY, will be eligible to receive the “BSKY Nabin Card”. This will entitle them to cashless care of Rs 5 lakh per annum (up to 10 lakh for women members of the family) in empanelled private hospitals both inside and outside the State for identified critical illnesses,” he added.