Karnataka government has earmarked Rs.120 crore after it approved the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Arogyasri scheme for the above poverty line families which is expected to cover 1.1 crore of the population in the state. The move makes Karnataka the lone state in the country to ensure universal health coverage for its people. Patients could be eligible for treatment costing up to Rs.1.5 lakh and in certain cases even up to Rs.2 lakh would be reimbursed. However, the patients were required to pay 10 per cent to the total treatment cost to avail of the scheme.

The scheme allows the population under the above the poverty line family category to be able to take advantage of the free treatment from the specialized hospitals. The diseases and disorders coming under the treatment umbrella cover cardiac, nephrology, neurology neo-natal emergencies and burns.

The key objective of the Rajiv Gandhi Arogyasri scheme for those in the above the poverty line is to provide healthcare benefits to those who cannot afford to pay for the treatment of major illness. Those people who come under the ambit of the health insurance coverage, Rashtriya Swasthya Arogyasri and Employees State Insurance (ESI) would not be eligible for the Rajiv Gandhi Arogyasri scheme, Karnataka health and family welfare minister told Pharmabiz.

The state government has now empanelled 150 hi-tech hospitals in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to offer the treatment to the patients under the above the poverty line. At these identified healthcare providers, the government has made efforts to open Arogya Mitra counters to ensure that all patients under category could avail the benefits of the scheme. The modus operandi is that the government would reimburse the treatment cost to hospitals, added the state health minister.

Further, the government has now mandated that need for above the poverty line ration cards. This is because it is seen to help the healthcare providers to identify the APL category of patients, he said.

Under the scheme, patients are entitled to get free admission, diagnostics from labs and radiology departments, drugs, meals and other miscellaneous expenses in the hospital including blood transfusion.

So long the Karnataka government has been extremely supportive to provide a string of health care schemes. It had taken on stream the Vajpayee Arogyasri for below the poverty line families which was launched as a pilot project in Gulbarga, a backward district in north Karnataka. In 2011, around 12,000 below the poverty line families benefitted from this scheme. This year at least 20,000 people were expected to benefit from this scheme, noted health minister Khader.