Why in news?

Five months after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced the reintroduction of Yeshaswini health scheme for farmers, there is still no clarity on how the scheme will be made available in a new form.

About the scheme:

• Yeshaswini, launched in 2003 by the State government, was one of the largest self-funded healthcare schemes in the country.
• Covering 823 defined surgical procedures, the scheme enabled rural beneficiaries to avail cashless treatment costing up to ₹2 lakh for a single admission every year for an annual contribution of ₹
• Urban beneficiaries were able to avail treatment costing up to ₹5 lakh for an annual contribution of ₹710. About 40 lakh members of cooperative bodies in urban areas were eligible under this scheme.

Arogya Karnataka and ayushman bharath:

• When Arogya Karnataka was rolled out in the State in March 2018, eight independent health schemes were merged under one head. The idea was to eliminate overlap of multiple health schemes and duplication in fund release.

• Subsequently, after Arogya Karnataka was co-branded with Ayushman Bharat in October 2018, the annual health cover (for 1,650 procedures under Arogya Karnataka) of ₹5 lakh a year for a BPL family of five (with additional assistance of ₹50,000 in some cases), was raised to ₹5 lakh.