Chandigarh, July 20 (IANS) Haryana has become the first state in the country to provide health insurance cover to all its below poverty line (BPL) families.
Nearly 1.29 million (12.97 lakh) families have been covered under the scheme, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Monday.

Hooda said the scheme, initiated in Haryana from January 2008, has been completely implemented in record period of time - beating the state government’s own deadline by four years. The scheme was to be originally implemented by 2012-13 in Haryana’s 21 districts.

“We pulled all stops and pressed all levers to ensure that all the BPL families are extended the cover at the earliest. It was a bit difficult but our team took keen interest in implementing the scheme in the entire state in the year of launch,” Hooda said.

Director Employees State Insurance Health Care D.V. Saharan said the scheme offered a cashless and paperless cover under which treatment worth Rs.30,000 per year was offered free of cost to any member of the BPL family in case of injury, disease and ailment necessitating hospitalisation.

It covers the cost of transportation, investigation, surgery and food, and the choice of hospital is left to the patient.

The population covered under the scheme has been issued smart cards. Government and private hospitals have been empanelled under the scheme.

Officials said nearly 11,000 people have already availed of the benefit under the scheme and millions of rupees have been disbursed for the BPL families’ treatment.