22 lakh people availed treatment under Swasthya Sathi
The Swasthya Sathi health insurance scheme has changed the lives of tens of thousands of residents of Bengal, as they have been avail treatments for free in hospitals, both government and private, which would otherwise have been prohibitively costly for them.
Nearly 22 lakh residents of Bengal have received free treatment in government and private hospitals through the Bengal government’s flagship health insurance scheme, Swasthya Sathi. The government pays the premium for treatments worth Rs 5 lakh per annum.
The state government has spent more than Rs 3,000 crore for the free treatment of its residents. The Duare Sarkar programme has helped skyrocket the popularity of the scheme. Before Duare Sarkar, the government spent Rs 2 to 2.5 crore daily on paying hospitals, which increased by 2.5 times after the drive.
Starting with 700-800 hospitals, the scheme has now enrolled over 2,300 hospitals, of which 1,500 are private. Initially, the daily claim was in the region of Rs 30 lakh, which has now jumped to Rs 7 crore.
This super-hit scheme of the Bengal government has largely benefitted the lower-middle class and poorer sections of the society and has undoubtedly put Bengal on the global map as being one of the rare places to provide universal healthcare.
