No paucity of funds for health insurance scheme, says health minister Nadda

In a country where 63 million people are pushed into poverty every year by healthcare expenditure, a strong government insurance scheme could be an effective mechanism to ensure universal health coverage. The National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) launched in February 2018 by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government comes with such a promise.

The NHPS, expected to cover 100 million poor families with an annual health insurance coverage of Rs 500,000 per family, will cost the government Rs 100-120 billion ($1.5 billion – $ 1.8 billion), as per official projections.

The scheme has been dubbed ‘Modicare’ by finance