Date extended for making BPL smart cards; fresh tenders for EMRS

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh health minister Rajiv Bindal today said that the government has extended last date for making smart cards for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families under the National Health Insurance Scheme. Addressing mediaperosns here, Bindal said that left-out BPL families can now make their smart cards till May 31. The scheme is designed to provide health insurance cover of up to Rs 30,000 per family. The scheme has already been launched in the state from March 1 this year. The state government would provide insurance cover up to Rs 1,75000 for BPL families in critical care conditions like cardiac and cardiothoracic surgeries, genito urinary surgery, neurosuregery, radiation oncology, trauma, transplant surgeries, spinal surgeries and surgical gastro enterology, informed the minister.

Bindal said the BPL families having smart cards can avail the insurance facility in 127 government hospitals and 13 private hospitals of the state. “For critical care treatments, government has authorized 18 hospitals where this poorest of the poor section of the society can avail the service,” he said. “Till date, 644 families across the state have availed facilities under the scheme,” he said.
Bindal said that as per budget provisions of the Central government for this year, the state government also proposes to cover Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) workers under this scheme.Read Full Story