Aadhaar to link universal health cover under NHAM

The Government is planning to link the universal health assurance scheme for providing medical treatment to all citizens with Aadhaar number to check ghost beneficiaries and fraudulent claims.

Under its flagship National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) which will be launched shortly, government has planned to cover the entire population. "The government has planned to seed Aadhaar numbers with its universal health programme NHAM. The experts think that this would help in keeping a check on any fraudulent insurance claims or ghost beneficiaries under the scheme," a source privy to the development said. As per experts, since Aadhaar provides proof of identity of person based on biometrics details including iris scan and finger prints, there will be remote chance of fraudulent insurance claims after seeding the unique identification number with the scheme. According to the source, the idea of seeding Aadhaar numbers with the universal health coverage for all citizens in India is likely to be approved as government wants to launch a fool proof insurance cover. The highlights of the proposed NHAM include 50 essential drugs with a package of diagnostics and about 30 AYUSH drugs to be made available to all citizens at government hospitals and health centres across the country. A package of preventive and positive health information will also be made available to all citizens and the health insurance will be a built-in feature of the mission. As per media reports, the government now wants to provide Aadhaar number to all prisoners. Besides there are plans to use Aadhaar for direct transfer of various benefits including fuel and food subsidies into the beneficiaries' bank accounts. Under Aadhaar projects, around 69.54 crore unique identification numbers have been issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Government has approved the Phase-V of Aadhaar project which allows it to enroll residents in four more densely populated states comprising Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, having population of around 40 crore. Now the government wants UIDAI to generate Aadhaar numbers for the entire population by June next year.