The state governments of Delhi and West Bengal headed by Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee respectively are yet to give their approval for the implementation of National Health Protection Mission (NHPM) – also styled as “Modicare”, Livemint has reported.
Other non-BJP ruled states like Odisha and Punjab too are yet to sign the memorandums of understanding (MoU) approving the national health care plan, if the report is to be believed. The Health Ministry headed by JP Nadda is carrying out an effort to get a nod from the majority of the states. The signing of the MoU is a form of a green signal by the states that they are committed to implementing NHPM.
As per the report, the MoU has already been signed by eight states an four union territories which include, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. As per the quote by Minister JP Nadda, the MoU would be further signed by 14 other states on 14 June which though doesn’t include the governments of West Bengal and Delhi.
These 14 states which are committed to signing the MoU include Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala.
As per an Economics Times report, the Centre expects to have about 25 states at the end of the month. Following this, the states would need to decide whether to merge their own health care schemes with the centre’s or whether to allow both to run simultaneously.
First announced during the 2017-18 Financial Budget, this Universal Health Care scheme is believed to be the world’s largest government-funded health protection scheme, which will potentially benefit 10 crores poor and vulnerable families.
Dubbed as Ayushman Bharat, this movement towards Universal Healthcare is 17 times bigger than the current Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, and is expected to cover about 40% of the Indian population. This as per projections would prevent these 10 crore vulnerable families from falling into poverty due to costs towards healthcare.
The scheme is expected to go live by 15 August.
