The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on June 1, 2021, digitized versions of Flagship Health Schemes on the IT platform of the National Health Authority.
The Union Minister launched the revamped Central Government Health Schemes (CGHS) and the Umbrella Schemes of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) and the Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) on the platform of the National Health Mission (NHM), making the schemes paperless, cashless and citizen-centric.
The minister in his statement also said that, due to lack of timely intervention, delayed response and various hurdles, the poor and the needy were not able to avail the benefits of these health schemes.
“It was one of my dream initiatives and I have been waiting to see the launch of these schemes on NHA’s IT platform. This will enable seamless delivery of healthcare services to eligible beneficiaries under these schemes by making the whole process paperless,” he said.
Objectves
While speaking on the occasion, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan informed that the initiative will enable the smooth delivery of the healthcare services to the eligible beneficiaries under these schemes by making the entire process paperless.
He added that this will be a significant and solid step towards the digitalization of healthcare services in India.
CGHS
In a country like India, which has the highest population living below the poverty line, healthcare is a major concern. The inadequacy of funds limits access to quality medical facilities. The Central Government Healthcare Scheme (CGHS) has been introduced to combat the health issues of all the employees of the central government.
The CGHS scheme is a broader concept of health insurance. Hence, an individual must understand the basics of the plan before opting for it.
RAN (Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi) is a financial assistance up to Rs 15 lakh that is provided to the poor patients suffering from major life-threatening diseases like cancer and other rare diseases, for their medical treatment at government hospitals. The eligibility criteria to avail services under RAN had been based on state/union territory-wise BPL threshold.
Vardhan laud PM Modi for ‘Digital India’
He lauded the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using technology for welfare delivery to citizens envisaged under Digital India.
“Just like the Technological interventions in opening bank accounts, Public Financial Management System (PFMS), subsidies through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Ayushman Bharat scheme for paperless treatment of patients, today’s initiative of convergence of CGHS, RAN and HMDG with NHA platform is also designed to with the vision of making the healthcare services available transparently and swiftly to the needy citizens,” Vardhan said.
