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Cosmetic Surgery For Transgender People

Context

  • The Union government has announced that transgender people will be eligible for Rs 5 lakh in annual health insurance under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
  • In this regard, the National Health Authority, which is part of the Health Ministry, has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Social Justice.

Relevance

GS Paper 2: Issues related to health.

Mains Question

Examine Ayushman Bharat’s advantages over its predecessors, as well as its major challenges. (250 words)


Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri (ABPM) Yojana Jan Arogya (AB-PMJAY)

  • Launched in September 2018, the scheme aimed to provide secondary and tertiary care services to the society’s poor and vulnerable population.
    • It was launched as the second component of the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme.
  • This scheme aimed to provide medical coverage worth Rs. 5 lakh per family per year.
  • It covers nearly 40% of the population. The scheme is intended to benefit 10.74 crore rural families as well as identified occupational categories of urban worker’s families.
  • Beneficiaries are identified using the most recent Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.

Benifits

  • It provides the beneficiary with cashless access to health care services at the point of service, i.e. the hospital.
  • It provides Health Benefit Packages that cover surgery, medical and day care treatments, as well as the cost of medications and diagnostics.

The National Health Authority’s Role

  • The National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body in charge of implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance AB-PMJAY scheme.
  • It has been tasked with:
    • designing strategy, building technological infrastructure, and
    • implementing the National Digital Health Mission to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.

Performance

  • The government plans to launch a dedicated health insurance scheme for transgender people in September to provide a comprehensive health package.
  • According to the Social Justice Ministry, India has 4.8 lakh transgender people. These people will be eligible for the scheme’s benefits.

Eligibility

  • The scheme will cover all transgender people who are not receiving benefits from other government or state-sponsored programmes.
  • Those who have a transgender certificate issued by the national portal for transgender people will be eligible for benefits.
    • Health insurance is available.
  • The health package available to transgender people will include hormone therapy and gender reassertion surgery.
  • This package can be redeemed at any private or public healthcare facility accredited by the AB PMJAY.
    • Verified beneficiaries will receive new cards.
  • For verified beneficiaries, a ‘Ayushman Bharat TG Plus Card’ will be generated.
    • The definition of family has changed o The Rs 5-lakh cover under the Ayushman Bharat scheme is for an entire family.
  • However, the government changed the definition of the family in order to provide transgender people with full yearly coverage.
  • Health cards issued to trans persons will not cover their family members.

Other Ayushman Bharat Card changes announced

  • The Ayushman Bharat card will now include the logos of both the Centre and the state.
    • The NHA has permitted co-branding of the new cards with the logos and names of both schemes (Ayushman Bharat and State Health Insurance Scheme).
    • Until now, cards issued to eligible beneficiaries only bore the Centre’s logo. Many states objected because they contribute 40% of the funds needed to implement the scheme, while the Centre pays the rest.
  • As a result, the Ayushman Bharat beneficiary card can now be used to access benefits from any existing state health insurance schemes as well.

 


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