The Karnataka government’s new Nagara (urban) Yashaswini health scheme for those living in urban areas will be kicked off from June 1, 2014.

This follows the success of the Yeshasvini Gramina scheme launched by the Karnataka government in 2002 under Congress regime led by chief minister SM Krishna which was operational from June 1, 2003. In fact the model of rural health care insurance scheme was led by Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, chairman of Narayana Health. Under the scheme, farmer co-operators and their family members had a health insurance cover after they contributed Rs.210 as per fiscal 2013-14 annually to avail any possible surgery during the period.

Now under the new scheme Nagara Yashaswini, the members of various cooperatives could seek the benefits with an annual payment of Rs.1,010 and avail cashless treatment at any of the 496 network hospitals conducting 823 surgical procedures. Both government and private hospitals are part of this network. The scheme, registrations for which have already begun, covers anyone from a newborn to a 75-year-old person. Members can avail healthcare for a total of Rs.1.75 lakh for a single admission. With multiple admissions one can avail treatment up to Rs.2.5 lakh.

Further, the card holders can avail basic outpatient treatment for Rs.100 and specialty treatment for Rs.200. Follow up check-up for the next three months is free at any of the network hospitals. clinical investigations could be sought at 25 per cent discount. All the payments were to be made directly to the hospitals.

Karnataka chief Minister Siddaramaiah who launched the Nagara Yashaswini health insurance scheme for members of urban cooperative societies in the state said that those registered with the cooperatives would be eligible for free medical treatment up to Rs.2.5 lakh.

Yashaswini Cooperative Farmers Healthcare Scheme, which presently has over six lakh enrolled members from rural cooperative societies will soon be extended to the entire state’s population of 6.5 crore. “The scheme is meant for middle and lower middle class. We have spent over Rs.50 crore in the rural Yashaswini Scheme and this year, we have allocated Rs.10 crore towards the urban Yashaswini scheme. If required, we will increase it,” said the Karnataka chief minister.

The state government has indicated that the scheme will prove to be beneficial to all sections of society, especially labourers, autorickshaw drivers, construction and factory workers. To begin with the Yashaswini cards were distributed to members of the Bruhat Bangalore Auto Chalakara Souharda Credit Cooperative and other such groups.

Procedures that were recently added under the scheme are orthopaedic implantations, radiotherapy and coronary stents, stated Karnataka Cooperatives Minister H S Mahadeva Prasad.

“There are more than 75 lakh members from urban cooperatives already registered and they will be able to avail this scheme. We aim to get another 30 to 40 lakh members enrolled this year,” he said.
The minister said while only 1 to 1.5 lakh people from the SC/ST communities were enrolled so far , but the urban scheme will have additional 11 lakh enrolments.

The key features of the scheme are that the beneficiary should be a member of an urban co-ops for at least three months. The members of defunct and liquidated employee cooperative societies are excluded. It mandated the need for separate Yashaswini card for every family members. A beneficiary could enroll five family members. For the sixth family member to be enrolled, could avail a premium reduction of 15 per cent.