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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Government reworks Rajiv Arogyasri health scheme for APL families -Afshan Yasmeen

Government reworks Rajiv Arogyasri health scheme for APL families -Afshan Yasmeen

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published Published on Sep 11, 2014   modified Modified on Sep 11, 2014
-The Hindu


Bangalore: The State government's Rajiv Arogyasri health scheme for above poverty line (APL) families has lost its sheen even before it can take off.

Going back on its word to provide subsidised healthcare to APL families by bearing 90 per cent of the cost for up to Rs. 1.5 lakh annually, the government has now reworked the scheme to provide only 70 per cent of the cost up to Rs. 1.5 lakh in general wards. The new proposal is set to be tabled before the Cabinet on Thursday for approval.

The new proposal provides for differential rates for general, semi-private and private wards. While beneficiaries opting for treatment in general wards get 70 per cent of the cost (up to Rs. 1.5 lakh), those who choose semi-private and private wards will get reimbursements up to 50 per cent of the cost. The Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) - entrusted with the implementation of the scheme - will now stipulate package rates only for treatment in general wards.

Sources in the Trust told The Hindu that the empanelled super-specialty hospitals will now have the freedom to fix their rates for those availing themselves of treatment in semi-private and private wards. "In these cases, the beneficiary-government contribution ratio of the total cost of up to Rs. 1.5 lakh will be shared equally. He/she will have to bear the remaining 50 per cent of the cost and the differential amount for the ward charges," the sources said.

While the reworked proposal will provide relief to hospitals that have been reluctant to get empanelled as the package rates fixed by the government were low, the hospitals will now have to provide the SAST their rates for surgical procedures, if people opt for semi-private and private wards. "We will display these rates on the SAST website and people can choose from the hospitals," sources said.

Although the scheme was formally announced in November 2013, it is still on paper. Apart from the issue with regard to low package rates fixed by the government, the hospitals contended that as most of them are also empanelled for the Vajpayee Arogyasri for BPL families, they are finding it difficult to cross-subsidise the scheme with patients who can afford to pay. Their main objection was that although surgical procedure rates vary among the hospitals, getting empanelled under the government schemes means "all hospitals will have to follow a standard rate".

Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader said the reworked scheme will be rolled out soon after Cabinet approval.


The Hindu, 10 September, 2014, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/government-reworks-rajiv-arogyasri-health-scheme-for-apl-families/article6398222.ece?homepage=true


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