The hospitals will be opened in Hub and Spoke models under the Affordable Health care Project of the State Government. While some hospitals will function as central hospitals or hubs, the rest will operate as branch hospitals or spokes.

“Our health portfolio currently stands at Rs2500 crore, up more than 20 per cent over previous fiscal. We were able to sell 2.5 lakh health insurance policies in FY 2016-17. We settled claim to the tune of Rs1200-1300 crore during last fiscal, which was less than that of the previous year’s claim amount settled,” said Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company   

Twenty states and Union territories have so far signed MoUs with the Union Health Ministry for implementing the NHPS that aims to provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually to 10 crore vulnerable families

As such, the state government would have to spend an estimated Rs 500 crore per annum for the Ayushman Bharat Programme as its 40 per cent share in the central scheme, he said. “It may cost a little higher to the state in case of implementing its own scheme. But, the state will not be forced to sign an MoU or follow the Centre’s guidelines,” an official at the health department said. 

Yashish Dahiya, Co-founder & CEO, PolicyBazaar Group of Companies said: “We will be building a team of certified and quality medical professionals to give free online consultations to customers. This shall be supported by a robust offline network. AI will play a key role in helping us build this in scale and efficiency.

Stating that the Biju Swasthya Kalyan scheme is not an insurance, but an assurance to the people for a better health service, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said secondary and tertiary cashless health care assistance will be provided up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum

“There have been no new cases of Nipah reported from anywhere in the country. The virus has been stalled. This is a good sign. Nipah is not epidemic and there is nothing to be scared of,” Mr Choubey told PTI