Over 65,84,500 card holders of RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojna (RSBY) in UP cannot avail the benefits of this scheme in case they prefer Ayurveda treatment.
To draw the attention of the chief minister about this fact, coordinator of regional Pharamacovigilance Centre for Ayurvedic Drugs, AYUSH, Anand Chaudhary, who is also a faculty member of BHU, had written a letter to implement the decision of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority as per its notification (IRDA/Reg/14/72/2013), issued in February last, in the state.
Unavailability of this facility for RSBY beneficiaries is surprising as persons, who have taken health insurance policies from private insurance companies are enjoying the benefits of Ayurveda and hospitalization facilities in Ayurvedic centres for treatment. The Ayurveda practitioners term it unfortunate as the Union government has already given its nod to include Ayurvedic treatment under health insurance coverage on new National Health Insurance Regulations, February 2013.
Chaudhary said, “This inclusion needs just an administrative order from the state government. The AYUSH insurance has already been included in the National Health Insurance Regulations in February last. Several other states like Madhya Pradesh have implemented the same.
Maharashtra is a state where Ayurvedic wings are also being formed in government district hospitals and the RSBY beneficiaries are being allowed to avail the facility of this treatment there,” he added.
Private players in health insurance sector have already included Ayurvedic treatment in their policies, but those policies are not going to help poor people. As per the information available on RSBY’s site, the number of scheme’s card holder in the country is 28.6 million, out of which 65 lakhs are in UP. He pointed out that the escalating cost of allopathic drugs is still a challenge to provide quality patient care with minimal resources. Ayurveda may help a great deal in this regard and ensure cost effective treatment to all if the state government includes Ayurveda for reimbursement.
Mentioning ailments and diseases, he said, cost of treatment of many diseases in allopath is high while the same can be treated through Ayurveda with less money. Around 10 to 50% of money can be saved, he said, depending upon the type of disease being cured. The fact that diseases are cured without any side effect is also well known.
The decision to include Ayurvedic treatment in health insurance was made on the recommendation of World Health Organisation (WHO).
The first meeting of Ayurvedic Swasthya Bima Yojna, sponsored by WHO, was held at BHU in 2010. Several Ayurvedic practitioners, officials from department of AYUSH and also from insurance companies were present.
Chaudhary said that during the meeting, the demand for making the scheme applicable for weavers and other BPL card holders had been made.
