After the overwhelming success of its job cards scheme, which covered about 20 million households in villages, the UPA government is ready with yet another programme, health insurance for poor, and a set of smart cards.
The ruling coalition, which survived the confidence vote in Parliament today, is aiming to cover 60 million households (or about 300 million people) across the country in the next five years under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which it announced last year. Already, 300-odd patients insured under the scheme have availed of this facility in various listed hospitals in Delhi and Haryana.
Under the scheme, smart cards are distributed to below poverty line (BPL) families that enable beneficiaries and their family members to access healthcare worth Rs 30,000 a year from listed public and private hospitals at an yearly premium of Rs 30.
The actual premium per card is Rs 662, paid by the Union labour ministry and the state governments. The ministry pays 75 percent of the cost.
While Assam and Tripura have already rolled out the scheme, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and West Bengal are ready to issue the smart cards in a month. In August, people in Bihar and Jharkhand and 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh would also start getting the cards.
Last week, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the distribution of the cards in one of the city's most backward areas, Mongolpuri.
Mahender Singh, who works at a construction site in Delhi, was among the 200 people who received the cards from the chief minister. He said though he did not recognise any of the hospitals on the list, he was glad there were some nursing homes where he could take his ailing mother for treatment.
According to Anil Swarup, director general (labour welfare), Ministry of Labour, the market-linked model is a win-win for the patient, the participating hospitals, the insurance companies as well as the companies making the smart cards.
The companies that win the bids get a premium of Rs 662 per smart card. The business model behind the programme obliges the insurance companies to distribute as many smart cards as possible as it is these cards that determine their income, says Swarup.
So far, insurance companies like Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance, ICICI Lombard, New India Assurance and Cholamandalam MS General Insurance have accepted the deal in 12 states. Others are waiting for more states to invite the bids.
Source: Business Standard
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
HOME AND HEALTH
HDFC Ergo General Insurance, a non-life venture between HDFC and Munich Re group, may not underwrite health insurance despite this being the fastest-growing segment. This is because Munich Re already has a joint venture with Apollo Hospitals, which specialises in health insurance. There has been speculation that HDFC may have another joint venture for health, perhaps with US company Cigna. HDFC has strongly denied such speculation and has said that it may instead sell health insurance for Apollo DKV Health, if regulations permit.
Source: The Economic Times
Source: The Economic Times
PF CORPUS: FUNDS QUOTE LOWEST FEES
Mumbai: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which runs one of the biggest social security schemes in the world and has often been criticised for the way it runs the scheme, has attracted one of the lowest fund management fees from top fund houses.
Over five fund houses have quoted a fee of one basis point (0.01%) or less for managing the incremental or fresh funds of the EPFO which is reckoned to be close to Rs 25,000 crore annually. The EPFO had invited bids from asset management firms for outsourcing the fund management functions of the organisation which has over 2 crore subscribers and has a corpus aggregating Rs 2,40,000 crore.
The plan is to have multiple fund managers for the scheme to help generate higher returns and to bring about greater professionalism by infusing competition.
From a provident or pension fund subscribers’ perspective, a lower fund management fee translates into higher returns over a long stretch. Typically, provident and pension fund monies remain invested over decades and there is evidence to show that each percentage fall in fund management charges is reflected in higher returns. In India, mutual funds charge, on an average, well over 2% as fund management fees.
The pension sector regulator PFRDA has also adopted a similar approach of awarding the mandate of fund management to three stateowned fund houses on the basis of the lowest fees quoted.
According to persons familiar with the EPFO’s bidding process, the asset management arms of HSBC, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC and Birla Sun Life are among those that have quoted a low fund management fee. What could be encouraging for these fund houses is access to a fairly large corpus at a time when there has been a decline in the assets under management of the mutual fund industry.
If the EPFO board approves the choice of three fund managers as proposed it may well have an impact on other exempt and what is known as excluded trusts, provident and pension funds. The funds, given their long-term nature, could also help provide stability in a rocky market.
These funds also may be enthused then to outsource their fund management activities to professional fund managers. In turn this could put pressure on the government to liberalise the investment guidelines to permit greater play for equity.
Source: The Economic Times
Over five fund houses have quoted a fee of one basis point (0.01%) or less for managing the incremental or fresh funds of the EPFO which is reckoned to be close to Rs 25,000 crore annually. The EPFO had invited bids from asset management firms for outsourcing the fund management functions of the organisation which has over 2 crore subscribers and has a corpus aggregating Rs 2,40,000 crore.
The plan is to have multiple fund managers for the scheme to help generate higher returns and to bring about greater professionalism by infusing competition.
From a provident or pension fund subscribers’ perspective, a lower fund management fee translates into higher returns over a long stretch. Typically, provident and pension fund monies remain invested over decades and there is evidence to show that each percentage fall in fund management charges is reflected in higher returns. In India, mutual funds charge, on an average, well over 2% as fund management fees.
The pension sector regulator PFRDA has also adopted a similar approach of awarding the mandate of fund management to three stateowned fund houses on the basis of the lowest fees quoted.
According to persons familiar with the EPFO’s bidding process, the asset management arms of HSBC, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC and Birla Sun Life are among those that have quoted a low fund management fee. What could be encouraging for these fund houses is access to a fairly large corpus at a time when there has been a decline in the assets under management of the mutual fund industry.
If the EPFO board approves the choice of three fund managers as proposed it may well have an impact on other exempt and what is known as excluded trusts, provident and pension funds. The funds, given their long-term nature, could also help provide stability in a rocky market.
These funds also may be enthused then to outsource their fund management activities to professional fund managers. In turn this could put pressure on the government to liberalise the investment guidelines to permit greater play for equity.
Source: The Economic Times
‘BRING ALL RYOTS UNDER CROP INSURANCE SCHEME’
District Collector K. Devanand has asked agriculture officials and bankers to work in tandem and ensure that all farmers -- landlords, tenants, loanees and non-loanees -- are brought under the crop insurance scheme which is being implemented taking village as a unit from this year.
Speaking to newspersons here on Tuesday, the Collector stressed the need to educate farmers that they can safeguard themselves against natural calamities by paying a nominal premium for crop insurance. He said that the crop insurance scheme was modified to cover all farmers to assess losses in a more scientific manner and pay compensation without hassles.
He pointed out that only those farmers who availed bank loans were covered earlier leaving a large number of tenants as well as non-loanee farmers. Also mandal was taken as a unit for assessing losses causing dissatisfaction among farmers who resented payment of premium.
The government now modified the scheme to cover all farmers. Non-loanee farmers and even tenants can get covered by paying prescribed premium along with sowing certificate issued by village secretary.
Source: The Hindu
Speaking to newspersons here on Tuesday, the Collector stressed the need to educate farmers that they can safeguard themselves against natural calamities by paying a nominal premium for crop insurance. He said that the crop insurance scheme was modified to cover all farmers to assess losses in a more scientific manner and pay compensation without hassles.
He pointed out that only those farmers who availed bank loans were covered earlier leaving a large number of tenants as well as non-loanee farmers. Also mandal was taken as a unit for assessing losses causing dissatisfaction among farmers who resented payment of premium.
The government now modified the scheme to cover all farmers. Non-loanee farmers and even tenants can get covered by paying prescribed premium along with sowing certificate issued by village secretary.
Source: The Hindu
AVIVA, MCDONALD’S TIE UP
Chennai: Aviva Life Insurance has announced a tie up with McDonald’s, a leading fast food chain in India, to promote its new marketing initiative ‘Tension Chhodo Cricket Khelo’ (TCCK). TCCK is a mass activation campaign that will culminate in the month of September with the 15 lucky dad-kid duos playing cricket with Sachin and his son in Mumbai. A press release from the company said that participants could simply fill in a contest form available free of cost with a Happy Meal at most McDonald’s outlets. In addition to the big prize, 250 customers are also eligible for beach cricket kits every week. Source: The Hindu Business Line
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