The Government has not received any reports that suggest single women, widows and senior citizens do not have aceess to private health insurance and are excluded from State funded schemes in rural areas.

 Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is a Government run scheme which provides health insurance to unorganized workers belonging to BPL category and their families. During the course of implementation, apart from BPL families, RSBY coverage has been extended to other categories of unorganized workers viz building and other construction workers, licensed railway porters, street vendors, MGNREGA workers (who have worked for more than 15 days during preceding financial year), beedi workers, domestic workers, sanitation workers, mine workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickers and auto/taxi drivers. Under the scheme, the eligible families in the unorganized sector are provided smart card based cashless health insurance cover of ₹ 30,000/- per annum. Single women, widows and senior citizens falling in the above categories of beneficiaries are covered under RSBY notwithstanding whether they hold or have access to private health insurance policy or not.

 This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Health insurance coverage under RSBY extends to unorganized sector workers and ensures inclusion of single women, widows, and seniors. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana provides annual smart card based cashless health insurance cover to eligible BPL households and has been extended to specified unorganized worker categories. Occupation-based eligibility includes construction workers, licensed railway porters, street vendors, qualifying MGNREGA workers, beedi workers, domestic workers, sanitation and mine workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickers and auto/taxi drivers. Single women, widows and senior citizens within these categories are covered under the scheme irrespective of access to private health insurance.