Odisha extends health scheme benefits to children in 5 to 18 yrs age group

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Odisha government has extended the benefits of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) health scheme to children aged between 5 and 18 years whose names are not in the list but their parents are enrolled.

The health and family welfare department has informed all BSKY empanelled hospitals in this regard through a letter on Tuesday.

The letter said, "It has come to the notice of the State Health Assurance Society that in some cases even though a family is covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA)/State Food Security Scheme (SFSS), the names of some child members of a family are left out of the database. This is due to non-availability of vacant slots in that block for addition of new members to the NFSA/SFSS database. As a result, it is not possible on the part of the hospital to register and authenticate such child beneficiaries for cashless treatment under BSKY."

The department said in order to overcome the issue, the government has approved BSKY benefits to the child members of NFSA/SFSS families in age group of 5 to 18 years on production of documentary evidence by the parent to support the claim that the individual being treated is their child.

Children below 5 years of age are already provided coverage under BSKY on the basis of self-declaration by the card holder that the child belongs to his/her family.

The state government launched BSKY on August 15, 2018 with an aim to provide universal health coverage with special emphasis on health protection of economically vulnerable families.

Official sources said of the state's 1.11 crore families, about 96.5 lakh families are covered under BSKY in Odisha.