Soon, your visit to doctor too could be covered by insurance

A government health insurance scheme providing hospital cover to over 23 million poor households will also pay for visits to the doctor and medication if pilot projects currently underway prove feasible. The labour ministry, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and ICICI Foundation, has launched the first Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) pilot project in Puri, Orissa, this month, covering both outpatient and inpatient care for the beneficiaries of the flagship scheme, which has been extended beyond BPL families to unorganised sectors such as construction workers, beedi makers, domestic workers and street vendors.

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