In a bid to provide insurance cover to more people hailing from vulnerable sections, government plans to widen the ambit of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.

The scheme, which was reviewed at the union cabinet meeting on Thursday, has already been extended to few segments of unorganised workers which include MNREGA beneficiaries, street vendors, domestic workers, beedi workers and those working in building and construction sites.

"The scheme has been extended to a few segments of unorganised workers. In future, it is likely to be expanded to other segments of such workers," an official release said.

Sources said that during the review of the scheme, it was pointed out that it has been a success story and has got wide appreciation from organisations like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Bank.

The Scheme was launched on 1st October, 2007 as the health insurance scheme for families living below the poverty line. It was operationalised on April, 2008.

Under the scheme, beneficiaries are entitled to smart card-based cashless health insurance cover of Rs.30,000 per family per annum on a family floater basis.

The central government contributes 75 per cent of the annual premium of the scheme while states' share is 25 per cent.

In case of North-East region and Jammu and Kashmir, Centre's share in the premium contribution goes up to 90 per cent and the state has to provide a mere 10 per cent of the total premium.

The beneficiary family has to pay only Rs 30 per annum per family as registration and renewal fee. Administrative cost is borne by the state governments.

The scheme provides for all pre-existing diseases, hospitalisation expenses, including maternity benefit and payment of transportation cost of Rs 100 per visit.

As on 31st December, 2011, about 2.57 crore smart cards are active and more than 29.25 lakh persons have availed hospitalisation facilities in 24 States and Union Territories.