Modi Care

   “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.”― Helen Keller

MODI CARE PACKAGE

On August 15, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), almost half of the states would not be part of it. So far 20 states have agreed to implement the scheme which is being termed 'Modicare' on the lines of 'Obamacare' of the US. But only 12-15 states will launch the scheme that day as the others are not prepared to roll it out on time, says Dr Vinod K Paul, the chief architect of the scheme who is also a member of Niti Aayog. States like UP and Bihar may take another 6 months or longer to launch Ayushman Bharat. It plans cover half a billion people

As for the states that are ready, patients will be able to walk into empanelled hospitals on the first day and receive cashless treatment upto Rs 5 lakh per annum for each family. Southern states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which already have health insurance schemes in place are far better prepared to introduce Ayushman Bharat. In fact, the Centre is initially using Telangana's technology backbone to launch NHPM.

Announced in the 2018 Budget, the AB-NHPM was touted as the 'world's largest government funded health care programme'. While it might take a while, with participation at both the Centre and state levels, and a cover for 10.74 crore families, the scheme is set to meet expectations eventually.

India’s push toward universal health care has Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political opponents worried, a top government adviser said.

Modi’s government announced a plan last week to provide health insurance to 100 million poor families, which would cover about 40 percent of the population. India plans to cover the entire population “sooner than later,” according to Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India, a government policy research group known as NITI Aayog.

“If we roll this out enough within this calendar year it will be an absolute game changer,” Kumar said in an interview Monday at his office in New Delhi. “It’s a new India that we are giving birth to.”

The health-care plan and higher guaranteed prices for farmers were key elements of Modi’s budget, which allowed for a wider fiscal deficit to tamp down discontent among the poor ahead of a series of state polls this year and national elections in early 2018. In December, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party held onto power in his home state of Gujarat with its lowest seat tally in about two decades.

India expects to spend up to 120 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) annually on premium payments to provide poor families with a cover of 500,000 rupees a year. The program was mocked by former Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, a leader of the opposition Congress party, who said the budget didn’t provide funds to pay for the program.

Funding won’t be an issue and costs will come down as more people sign up, Kumar said. He also took aim at Chidambaram, saying the health-care plan would help secure electoral gains for Modi over the long term.

“That’s the opposition’s fear -- that’s Chidambaram’s fear -- that if we get away with it his goose is cooked," Kumar said.

India has flagged low levels of insurance penetration as a potential damper on its growth, with as many as 70 million people slipping into poverty each year due to sickness. About 60 percent of health-care expenses are paid out of pocket, according to the World Bank, putting medical care out of reach for many in Asia’s third largest economy.

Poor quality of health-care services, a lack of public hospitals and a shortage of doctors are common problems in India’s health-care system. India’s spending on health as a percentage of gross domestic product is the lowest among the BRICS grouping, which also includes Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa

MODI CARE PACKAGE

75 Million Toilets

October 2, 2019 is an important date for India's government

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, it marks the proposed finish line for "Clean India," the country's ambitious plan to install 75 million toilets around the country

Right now, 600,000 of the world's 1.7 million who die annually from unsafe water and sanitation (due primarily to open, unclean toilets) live in India. As billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates recently wrote on his blog, those kinds of conditions make a plan like Clean India worthy of both praise and financial support