Health Ministry Urges States to Adopt Clinical Establishment Act

The Union Health Ministry has urged states to adopt the Clinical Establishment Act, which aims to streamline healthcare services in India, stating they are the most important partners in rolling out of the free health insurance scheme that offers cover for 10 crore poor families. The health ministry’s reminder to all states came as it wants states to adopt the act before the launch of the AB-NHPM, to ensure appropriate checks and balances are put in place and maximum benefit is obtained by the beneficiaries. In a letter to all states, the health secretary said states should adopt the act, which is applicable to all types of clinical establishments in public and private sectors.

The state governments are the most important partners under this scheme sharing 40 percent of the amount and implementing the scheme, therefore, an appropriate oversight and monitoring mechanism also needs to be put in place. About five states including Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, and Jharkhand and all Union territories except the NCT of Delhi have adopted and implemented the Act. Sikkim, Bihar, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have adopted the act, but have not yet implemented it. The state governments may consider bringing a state-specific legislation as has been done by some states.

The ministry wants to complete sharing of the latest socio-economic caste census (SECC) data with states by April 30, testing of IT systems, and hospital empanelment by July 31. States will be allowed to implement the scheme through insurance companies or a trust/society or a mixed model and it will be an entitlement-based scheme with entitlements decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. In the first phase of the launch, the packages will cover mostly all life-saving surgeries except for organ-transplant. The AB-NHPM is set to be the world’s largest government-funded healthcare insurance programme.