Health insurance for BPL families in 22 more dists

PATNA: Bihar government on Tuesday signed MoUs with three insurance firms -- ICICI Lombard, Chola Mandalam M S Insurance and Royal Sundaram for giving Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) benefits to below poverty line (BPL) families in 22 districts.With this, 30 of the state's 38 districts are now covered by RSBY. While ICICI Lombard has been given the responsibility of 11 districts, Chola Mandalam M S Insurance and Royal Sundaram have been allotted three and eight districts respectively.

Prior to the Tuesday's MoUs, BPL families of eight districts were provided health insurance cover under the RSBY by Oriental Insurance. The Yojana was launched in the state by chief minister Nitish Kumar on August 20 last year.

The RSBY provides a health insurance cover worth Rs 30,000 each to BPL families for which the premium is paid by the Centre and the state concerned on a 75:25 basis. A smart card, issued to the beneficiary, allows him/her to avail of the cashless hospitalisation facility.