India is a developing country with a vast population, a population that is now deemed to be the biggest among all the countries on the planet. To be able to provide as many people as possible with a good life, a decent standard of living as well as proper healthcare, we need schemes to be able to support groups of people that are at the bottom when it comes to privilege and financial situation. There has been vast expansion and development when it comes to the health facilities in India. However, illness still continues to remain one of the biggest causes of human deprivation in India and leads to a lot of insecurity for these sensitive groups. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme), along with the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits, has been implemented by the government so that workers in the country will face fewer issues when it comes to healthcare.

Need For The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) Scheme
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) Scheme

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY scheme) is an important scheme that seeks to serve the workers and other people working in the unorganized sector in the country. For these groups, health costs may sometimes be too much and push them from financial struggle straight to poverty. The Central Government recognized the need to provide social security to these workers and introduced the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) to do the same. By the 25th of March in 2013, the scheme had 34,285,737 Smart Cards and 5,097,128 hospitalization cases and has continued to serve the segments of the populace that are eligible for it. The “Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008” came into operation w.e.f 31st December 2008, and it encompassed ten social security schemes benefiting the unorganized workers, including the RSBY or Swasthya Bima.

Harboring Sensitive Groups From Debt Traps Through The Rashtriya Bima Yojana

Through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme), the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits and RSBY eligibility, the persons that are considered to be BPL or Below the Poverty Line and workers belonging to the unorganized sector are sheltered from falling into debt traps, especially debt traps in order to pay for medical treatments for themselves or their family members. On Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, persons are assisted in order to avoid such issues from arising. As the costs for health care treatments rise, it becomes more difficult for such financially strained groups to afford costs for medical treatments themselves. Without schemes such as the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme), they would take on loans and face a lot of issues trying to pay these back, so the RSBY scheme protects this part of the populace from getting into such a situation which could cause a lot of stress, worry and even patients not being able to receive the kind of medical treatment that they may need.

Eligibility For The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana eligibility is an important area of discussion. Before one takes up the Swasthya Bima scheme and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits, they may have to check if they are eligible for the scheme. Once it is clear that the person or persons are eligible for the same, they may proceed to apply for the Swasthya Bima scheme. The terms of eligibility of the Rashtriya Bima Yojana are first that the person or people seeking to be beneficiaries must belong to the unorganized sector as worker or workers belonging to the BPL or Below Poverty Line category or be their family members, which would be a limit of a family unit of five. The government of India has set this particular economic standard called BPL, or Below poverty line, in order to be able to identify persons who belong to the lower-income strata in the community and need urgent assistance and be provided with relief relating to different types of issues from the government. The implementing agencies are responsible for verifying the eligibility of the unorganized sector workers and their family members who are proposed to benefit from the Rashtriya Swasthya Yojana through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits when it comes to RSBY eligibility The beneficiaries will be issued smart cards for the purpose of identification.

The Enrolment Process For The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

The details of Below Poverty Line Households are compiled into a list. This list is then provided to the necessary insurer. The respective insurance company will then prepare an enrollment schedule for every village with some specific dates. This is done in consultation with district-level officials. The Below Poverty Line list will be posted in every village at places that are significant to those who live there, as well as the enrolment station. There are mobile enrollment stations set up at local centres for the Swasthya Bima, such as public schools and other significant places in each village. Different kinds of information are set up at the enrollment station in order to collate the data of the beneficiaries. They will have devices such as hardware to collect biometric data of the beneficiaries as well as printers, for example, to print their smart cards alongside other devices. The smart card or the RSBY card for the Swasthya Bima is provided to the beneficiary once they have paid the fee of 30 rupees. Their smart card is validated by a Government officer. The smart card or RSBY card and the information pamphlet explain the scheme and the list of particular hospitals where they may be able to take up the benefits provided by the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme).

Swasthya Bima For Women

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) looks after the needs of women and infants as well. Maternal health is important when it comes to the families of the workers as well as to the future health of the workers of the country. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) provides a maternity benefit cover up to Rs. 30,000/- per annum on a family floater basis to BPL families up to a family unit of up to five people on RSBY eligibility, and they may all be beneficiaries of this scheme as and when they need it. There is no age limit when it comes to the age of the children of the policyholder under the scheme. However, if more than the number of children are present in a family than the maximum number of members of a family unit that may benefit from this scheme which is up to five people, then the policyholder needs to decide which of them will be covered under the plan. So the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana eligibility will only be for up to five members in a single eligible family unit.

RSBY Card For Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

For the beneficiaries of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme), the smart card that is provided is a very useful item. This may be used for different purposes such as identification of the beneficiary, information about the patient such as medical treatment they may receive, cashless transactions at the empanelled hospital and portability of benefits across the country. Once the smart card or the RSBY card has been validated, it will be given to the beneficiary at the station where they may enrol for the Rashtriya Bima Yojana. The RSBY card has a picture of the head of the family to be able to identify the person in case the biometric device has some issues.

Importance Of IT Enabled Smart Cards

IT stands for Information Technology. Smart cards or the RSBY card for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) are IT enabled. This means that the details of the beneficiaries and all of their data relating to the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) will be present on an online Information Technology – enabled platform that will store all their data. This is very convenient for all parties associated with the scheme because one may not have to go to any physical place in order to find out any information about the beneficiary, their details, the kind of assistance they are receiving when it comes to the benefits of the scheme among several other factors. In rural regions, if one has to go to a particular place in order to find out some particular information, this may be very inconvenient as they may have to travel long distances, and transport to travel might be very difficult to organize or acquire among several other issues people in rural areas may face. When it comes to more urban areas or cities, travelling from one place to another in order to find out some information relating to the scheme may be expensive, time-consuming as well as unnecessary if there is an option to collate data on an IT based platform. For doctors and others, it will be easy to find out any particular information they need to find out about the beneficiary.’ The IT-enabled factor thus makes everyone’s lives easier when it comes to the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme).

Benefits Of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

Through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme), the beneficiary shall be eligible for such inpatient health care insurance benefits as would be designed by the respective State Governments based on the requirement of the people/ geographical area. However, the State Governments are advised to incorporate a few particular minimum benefits in the scheme. The unorganized sector workers and their families (unit of five) will be covered and be given an RSBY card, a total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family per annum on a family floater basis, cashless attendance to all covered ailments, hospitalization expenses, taking care of most common illnesses with as few exclusions as possible, all pre-existing diseases to be covered, transportation costs (actual with a maximum limit of Rs. 100 per visit) within an overall limit of Rs. 1000.

Limitations Of The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY Scheme)

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) is limited in few ways. It may be possible to receive inpatient treatment or treatment in a hospital through the scheme. In order to be able to provide outpatient treatment, alot of strategies has been implemented, however, it is still observed that there has been low enrolment relating to this. Inpatient treatment is usually when a patient has to be admitted to a hospital in order to receive treatment, while outpatient treatment is when the person does not have to be admitted to the hospital for the treatment of their medical circumstance or medical issue. There may also be issues related to the IT system where data of the beneficiaries and other important information related to them or the scheme is stored, if there is some bug, some system breakdown or even device issue from which the information is collected this could cause a lot of problems, especially for those in need of urgent medical assistance.

Conclusion

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana scheme (RSBY scheme) is an important scheme that has brought a lot of relief to the populace that belongs to the BPL or Below Poverty Line. They are able to navigate the healthcare system better and be relieved of medical issues and emergencies that they would not be able to simply recover from without the scheme and other schemes of a similar nature. The scheme makes the lives of people employed in the unorganized sector easier by giving attention to those who work for everyone else in the country, all in all ensuring smooth development of the country, happier low-income communities, and better lifestyles for all that reside in the country of India. Additionally, in India, medical treatments are getting expensive and government schemes might not be able to cover it all. In such cases, online fundraising on crowdfunding websites like Impact Guru works as a great source of funds.