Earlier this month, the Odisha government began shifting eligible beneficiaries from its own healthcare scheme—Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY)—to the central government’s flagship health scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
This transition is being overseen by Union Health Minister JP Nadda, as part of the BJP’s effort to bring uniform health coverage across India. Under Ayushman Bharat, each family gets ₹5 lakh in annual health insurance, with an additional ₹5 lakh exclusively for women, which increases the coverage compared to the earlier BSKY scheme.
However, despite the promise of better coverage, the implementation in Odisha is facing serious technical and operational challenges.
Major Issue: Software Glitches Delaying the Rollout
According to Nilanjana Mukherjee, State Secretary of the All India Healthcare Providers Association, several software issues are disrupting the smooth rollout of Ayushman Bharat in Odisha. These include:
- Errors in migrating data from BSKY to Ayushman Bharat.
- Technical issues in new beneficiary registrations.
- Short OTP (One Time Password) time limits, now just 10 minutes, have made patient verification more difficult.
Additionally, a new rule requiring doctor-patient photographs during registration is causing pushback from medical professionals, many of whom find it inconvenient or impractical during busy hours.
Individual Cards Slowing Down Registrations
One of the key differences between the two schemes is the structure of health cards:
- BSKY worked on a per-family card system.
- Ayushman Bharat requires individual cards for each family member.
Because of this, hospitals and registration centers are taking longer to process patients, which is especially challenging given Odisha’s high eligibility rate—78% of the population, compared to the national average of 37%.
Lack of Pre-Authorization Causing Delays
Another important concern raised is the absence of a pre-authorization mechanism in Ayushman Bharat.
Under BSKY, hospitals could get pre-approval for treatments, which sped up the process. But now, without this feature, hospitals must wait longer or take extra steps, which affects how quickly patients receive treatment approvals, even though emergency or critical care is still being provided without delay.
Cost Caps on Medical Implants Are Hurting Patient Choices
Doctors in Odisha also face restrictions when using medical implants like pacemakers and spinal implants.
Ayushman Bharat has introduced caps on the costs of these implants, which means:
- Doctors must choose cheaper or limited options, even when better implants are available.
- Patient care could suffer, as not all implant types fall within the scheme’s price limits.
Though treatments are being carried out, these pricing restrictions are complicating medical decisions and reducing the flexibility hospitals had under BSKY.
Healthcare Body Raises Concerns With Government
To deal with all these issues, the All India Healthcare Providers Association has formally submitted a memorandum to the Odisha government.
They’ve asked the authorities to:
- Fix software and registration problems.
- Reintroduce features like pre-authorization.
- Address price caps on critical implants.
So far, the state government has not issued an official response, but stakeholders are hoping for a solution soon.
The shift to Ayushman Bharat in Odisha was meant to be a game-changer, offering more coverage and benefits, especially for women. But unless the technical glitches, registration hurdles, and treatment constraints are resolved quickly, the scheme might end up causing more delays than relief—at least in its current phase of implementation.
