Free treatment given to 8.06L beneficiaries in 2 years: Punjab Minister

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 24

Free treatment worth Rs912.81 crore was provided to 8.06 lakh entitled beneficiaries in two years under the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (SSBY). It was disclosed by Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu during a state-level function held at Kisan Vikas Chamber, Mohali, to mark the beginning of the third year of the scheme.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the SSBY had successfully completed two years of its implementation. It was an initiative to move from a segmented approach of health service delivery to a comprehensive need-based health care service.

Sidhu said the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana was launched in the state to holistically address the healthcare needs at the secondary & tertiary level and more than 8 lakh beneficiaries got free treatment. Of these, heart surgeries of 13,940 patients had been conducted free of cost. Similarly, knee replacement and hip replacement surgeries of 4,964 patients, treatment of 12,133 cancer patients and dialysis of 2,03,175 patients and treatment of other diseases had been done free of cost.

Sidhu said e-cards were issued to more than 71 lakh beneficiaries under this scheme in the past two years. As many as 898 hospitals were listed for providing treatment to entitled beneficiaries, including government hospitals as well as large private hospitals. In these empanelled hospitals, entitled beneficiaries could avail of cashless treatment under the scheme for indoor hospitalisation for around 1,579 treatment packages.

Benefits were being provided to the families listed in the Socio-Economic Caste Census – 2011, farmers holding J-forms and sugarcane weighment slip holders, registered construction workers, small traders and yellow cardholders or accredited journalists.

The Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna, one of the state’s biggest schemes, has achieved several milestones, including 8 lakh hospital admissions.