New health plan will be cashless, State-funded, says Jaitley

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the world’s biggest health cover plan announced in the Budget will be cashless and not a reimbursement scheme, and promised more funds if required depending on the rollout later next financial year.

The National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), touted as ModiCare, envisaged to provide medical cover of up to Rs 5 lakh to over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, constituting 40 per cent of total population.

“It takes care of hospitalisation, the secondary and tertiary care. Obviously, it will involve various state hospitals and selected private hospitals. It can be on trust model, it can be on insurance model. It’s not on reimbursement model because too many complaints come on the reimbursement model,” he said in New Delhi.

The model is now being worked out between NITI Aayog and health ministry, he said, adding the date of implementation would be next financial year and some time in the course of the year it will be worked out.