Free Covid cure in private hospitals for the poor

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

In a major reprieve for the underprivileged sections of society, Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Sidhu today announced the government’s decision to provide free treatment to Covid patients falling under the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (SSBY) at the empanelled private hospitals.

Govt to bear differential cost

• The facility will be available in the hospitals offering treatment at the rates ranging from Rs8,000 to Rs18,000 per day
• The government will bear the differential treatment cost
• The cap rates include bed, PPE kits, medicines, consumables, monitoring/nursing care, doctor’s fee, investigations, oxygen, etc

He said the facility would be available in the hospitals offering Covid treatment at the rates ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 18,000 per day, the rates fixed for private hospitals in the state. The government will bear the differential treatment cost derived after deducting the cost payable by the insurance company from the cap rates. Sidhu said the cap rates include bed, PPE kits, medicines, consumables, monitoring/nursing care, doctor’s fee, investigations, oxygen, etc.

SSBY beneficiaries could directly visit empanelled hospitals without any need for referral from the public hospitals, he said, adding that the initiative would bring relief to the vulnerable and deprived section, who would now be able to avail level-2 and level-3 treatment in private hospitals.

He said earlier the treatment available in these empanelled hospitals was payable as per the SSBY scheme rates fixed by the Centre that range from Rs 1,800 to Rs 4,500, which were too less to be viable for the hospital to meet expenses of treatment of a Covid patient that entails an additional cost on account of PPE kits, masks, consumables, isolation, etc.

Sidhu said though the treatment of beneficiaries was free in public hospitals, to provide relief to a large section of society, the government decided to bear the additional expenses and allow free treatment in the empanelled private hospitals.

He said since its launch, the Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana had shown a consistent growth.