Bengal CM Mamata won't 'waste' funds on 'Modicare'; first state to opt out

Pointing out that West Bengal had already enrolled 5 million people under its own healthcare programme, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the state will not waste its resources on National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), which was unveiled in the Union Budget this year.

This way, Bengal became the first state to opt out of the scheme, also known as Modicare, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced as world’s largest health insurance scheme covering 500 million people in the country.

Replacing the existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the government targets an annual premium of Rs 1,200 to cover a single family.

The states have to choose between a trust-based scheme or an insurance-based scheme and will have to scrap similar existing programme.