The BJP government in Rajasthan is scrambling to salvage its flagship medical insurance scheme, the Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana, after the lone company involved in the project threatened to pull out citing non-payment of a part of the premium by the health department. Official documents assessed by Outlook show the fractious relationship between the New India Assurance Company (NIAC) and the government over the scheme—launched in 2015 to provide cashless medical insurance cover to families living below the poverty line.
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s project is believed to have provided the framework for Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s national health protection scheme, Ayushman Bharat. Rajasthan goes to the polls on December 7 and the opposition Congress has red-flagged the state scheme to pin down Raje, already facing massive anti-incumbency and allegations of running an autocratic government.
The company and the Rajasthan State Health Assurance Agency (RSHAA), a body under the...
