VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Pradesh has topped the country in terms of the percentage of households (at least one family member) covered under any health scheme or health insurance, according to the recent Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21.
While the all-India average is 29%, the coverage of any health scheme/insurance in Andhra Pradesh is 74.6%. Chhattisgarh has 68.5% coverage, taking the second place. About 66.4% of the households in Telangana have access to some form of health insurance or health scheme.
The provision of some form of universal health coverage is regarded as a basic component of social security. The SDG (sustainable development goals) target stipulates universal health coverage. Creating an access to affordable and indiscriminate health services is key to providing UHC. Ideally, patients should be in a position to avail of the health services through a prepayment mechanism or tax revenues, but not necessarily free of cost.
Among all the state and central health schemes, the Aarogyasri scheme has remained the mainstay in Andhra Pradesh. According to the official statistics, about 95 percent of the families in the state are benefiting from this flagship health scheme with the enhancement of the annual income limit to Rs 5 lakh.
AP first state to bring Covid treatment under Aarogyasri
Andhra Pradesh is the first state to bring Covid-19 treatment under the ambit of Aarogyasri. It has also added post-Covid treatment and black fungus treatment under the scheme. Preparing for the third wave, several paediatric treatment and surgical procedures have been recently added to Aarogyasri.
About 35 lakh people have benefited as of date under the scheme since its roll out in 2007. About 1.6 lakh Covid-19 patients availed of treatment under the scheme since the onset of the pandemic in March last year, which cost the exchequer Rs 450 crore.
From December, 2019 to November, 2020, about Rs 266 crore was provided as postoperative sustenance allowance to 4,38,924 cases. About 130 superspecialty hospitals in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai have been empanelled as Aarogyasri network hospitals.
