Govt planning incentives for health assurance mission

With the government preparing to launch the flagship National Health Assurance Mission, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today said the Finance Minister has been approached for incentives for insurances under the programme.
Addressing a meeting of state health secretaries here, he said the mission would comprise assured health packages, including essential drugs and diagnostics.
Besides, tertiary healthcare is also part of the programme, which would be through various insurance mechanisms for the citizens.
"We are speaking to the Finance Minister of the country also to give some sort of incentives of various nature to people, who will opt for these insurances," Vardhan said.

The government would be negotiating for the people in a bid to bring down the premium for the purpose, he said.
While the poor are likely to get treatment free of cost under the mission, the rest of the population are expected to be covered under an insurance mechanism.

Later, briefing newspersons, Vardhan said his ministry is taking suggestions from Health Secretaries of the state governments with regard to the mission before sending the details of its proposal to the Prime Minister's Office.
After incorporating the suggestions from the PMO, it would be moved to the Cabinet for approval, he said.

The highlights of the proposed mission are that 50 essential drugs, with a package of diagnostics and about 30 AYUSH drugs, will be made available to all citizens at government hospitals and health centres across the country.
A package of preventive and positive health information will also be made available to all citizens and health insurance will be a built-in feature of the mission.