Odisha, which is yet to accept the Pradhanmantri Ayushman Bharat Yojana, claimed that its own health scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyana Yojana (BSKY) has more acceptability now.

It has provided health services worth Rs 1,191 crore to over 5.45 lakh beneficiaries under its health scheme BSKY since September last year.

“BSKY Smart Health Cards have been given to 96.5 lakh families covering over 3.3 crore people of Odisha. BSKY beneficiaries are provided healthcare in empanelled private hospitals for an annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family and an additional Rs 5 lakh for the women members of the family after exhaustion of the initial limit,” said a statement issued by the chief minister’s office.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik took a review of the efficacy of the health project.

“At present, there are a total of 500 private hospitals within and outside the state which are empanelled under BSKY. Out of these 500 private hospitals, 98 are outside the state, including hospitals of national repute such as Tata Memorial hospitals, CMC Vellore, Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital Bangalore, Narayana Hrudalaya hospitals, Fortis Healthcare hospitals and Apollo hospitals,” said officials.

The state government, in its statement regarding the scheme’s acceptability, said: “It has empanelled hospitals outside the state that cover 17 states of the country and are providing healthcare to all BSKY card holders throughout India. More than 76 beneficiaries availed the treatment in CMC Vellore and 979 beneficiaries availed the treatment in Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai.”

Since the launch of BSKY Smart Health Card on September 1, 2021, the number of total beneficiaries have been 5,45,339 and services provided worth Rs 1,191 crores. “The state government has borne the entire cost of health care provided by the empanelled private hospitals. Out of these, 23,119 beneficiaries availed services worth Rs 64.25 crore in the empanelled hospitals outside the state,” officials said.

Of the total 5,45,339 patients benefitted, 2.5 lakh have availed healthcare up to Rs 5 lakh and 225 women patients have availed healthcare beyond Rs 5 lakh with 27 women patients getting healthcare of Rs 10 lakh each.

Presently the scheme is benefitting about 73,000 patients each month in empanelled private hospitals alone, for which the state government bears a cost of Rs 165 crore monthly.

“100 per cent callback is done to all BSKY beneficiaries undergoing treatment at empanelled private hospitals and presently the patient satisfaction level with respect to services provided under BSKY is 97 per cent. At the empanelled hospitals, Swasthya Mitras have been deployed to help the patients for admission and other services,” officials said.