Rashtriya swasthya bima yojana in India: Health insurance for the poor

Social Security and healthcare assurance for all has been the dictum of Government of India, and it has taken different steps in this regard. One of the most significant policy milestones is the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act (2008) enacted by the Central Government to offer for the social security and welfare of the unorganized workers. This act advocates that the Central Government provide social security schemes to alleviate risks due to disability, health shocks, maternity and old age which all unorganized workers get exposed to and are likely to suffer from. RSBY was initiated in early 2008 and was primarily planned to target only the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, but has been expanded to wrap other defined categories of unorganized workers. RSBY has fold objective to provide financial protection against catastrophic health costs by reducing out. The beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- per annum on family floater basis, for most of the diseases that require hospitalization. The benefit will be available under the defined diseases in the package list. As of now the scheme is operational in 278 districts of 15 states. Out of which 5,91,17,989 BPL families, there are 3,63,32,475 BPL families enrolled under the RSBY scheme. Bihar is the only the state, where the highest number of BPL families enrolled under the RSBY scheme. The total of 70,28,409 lakhs families getting benefits from it. With this backdrop the present study intends to work out the performance of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana in India from its inception.