Health cards of no help in Punjab, patients bear treatment cost

The state government’s Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana appears to have lost its intended purpose within a few months of its launch.

The scheme aims at providing health coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh per family, with numerous empanelled hospitals across Punjab offering cashless treatment.

In Ludhiana district alone, nearly five to six lakh health cards have been issued so far under the plan.

However, the objective behind the scheme seems to be getting defeated, as many hospitals are allegedly refusing free treatment on the grounds that specific procedures or packages are not covered at their facility.

Civil Surgeon Dr Ramandeep Kaur acknowledged the need for greater public awareness. “We have over 80 hospitals empanelled in the district, offering more than 2,100 different packages. Of these, 95 packages are reserved exclusively for government hospitals.”

“However, people are not fully aware of these details and end up visiting hospitals where the required treatment is not covered,” she said, adding that awareness regarding available packages must be improved.

When asked about the number of beneficiaries who have availed the scheme so far, she said the department did not have the data.

Congress Councillor Gaurav Bhatti, who has previously raised the issue, cited a recent case involving a woman, Rajni, who struggled to get surgery done for her 49-year-old son. “She ran from pillar to post as the card was not accepted at the DMCH (Dayanand Medical College and Hospital),” he said.

Rajni told The Tribune that while the treatment cost was around ?4 lakh, the card was not accepted at the DMCH. She eventually took her son to the PGI in Chandigarh, where she had to spend ?1 lakh for the treatment.

Officiating Deputy Medical Commissioner Deepika confirmed that they did not have a consolidated data telling how many people were benefitted by the scheme in Ludhiana district so far.

Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain admitted that some hospitals were not fully cooperating in providing cashless treatment under the scheme. “We are urging hospitals to coordinate so that maximum patients could avail free treatment under the scheme,” he said. Despite repeated attempts, Health Minister Balbir Singh could not be contacted for comments.