press trust of india
New Delhi, Feb 2: States will have to bear half the burden of the expenditure to be incurred on National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). Niti Aayog advisor Alok Kumar said: “While the Centre will bear an annual burden of about Rs5,000 crore-Rs6,000 crore towards premium on health cover, the remaining amount will come from the state governments.”
The scheme, which is expected to be launched either August 15 or October 2, would entail total investment of Rs10,000 crore to Rs12,000 crore. The scheme proposes to provide annual health insurance of Rs5 lakh to 10 crore households.
The premium for every household covered by the scheme is expected to be about Rs1,000-1,200 annually, which will be borne by the State. The scheme has been touted as the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme.
Meanwhile, Health Minister J P Nadda Friday assured that finances for the scheme will not be a problem and that the Centre was working out the nitty-gritty of the programme. “We will give the details but not today. We have to work that out with all other departments as well. We will give the details [later],” Nadda told reporters here.
He said every aspect of the scheme “has been calculated” and that the details of the programme will only be shared when the government is ready to roll it out.
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