Kerala allots Rs 100 crore for Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi; Check details

Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) is a healthcare scheme designed to offer a health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. Additionally, pre-existing diseases are covered from the first day of enrollment.

Thiruvananthapuram: Finance Minister KN Balagopal announced that the state has allocated an additional Rs 100 crore for the Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi. The free treatment worth Rs 3200 crore has been ensured through the scheme in two years. The minister thus stated that about 12.5 lakh people have been provided with the best treatment. 

Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) is a healthcare scheme designed to offer a health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. This coverage is specifically intended for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations. The scheme targets over Rs 42 lakh economically disadvantaged and vulnerable families, which translates to approximately Rs 64 lakh beneficiaries. These families represent the bottom 40% of the Kerala population, aiming to provide them with financial protection and access to essential healthcare services."

Benefits covered under Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi:

Government-funded health insurance schemes in India have traditionally had limitations, with coverage varying from Rs 30,000 to Rs 3,00,000 per family annually across different states. This has resulted in a fragmented system. However, the KASP–PMJAY aims to address these issues by offering cashless coverage of up to Rs 5,00,000 per eligible family annually for specified secondary and tertiary care conditions.

The coverage provided by the scheme encompasses various components of treatment, including:

1. Medical examination, treatment, and consultation
2. Pre-hospitalization expenses
3. Medicine and medical consumables
4. Non-intensive and intensive care services
5. Diagnostic and laboratory investigations
6. Medical implantation services when necessary
7. Accommodation benefits
8. Complications arising during treatment
9. Post-hospitalization follow-up care for up to 15 days

The benefit of Rs 5,00,000 is on a family floater basis, allowing any member of the family to utilize it. Unlike the previous RSBY scheme, KASP–PMJAY has no restrictions on family size or the age of members. Additionally, pre-existing diseases are covered from the first day of enrollment. This means that individuals with existing medical conditions can receive treatment for those conditions under the scheme from the day they join.