Free health scheme seeks its pound of flesh Hospital tells patient to pay for drugs, tests in violation of RGJAY provisions

Free health scheme seeks its pound of flesh

Hospital tells patient to pay for drugs, tests in violation of RGJAY provisions

The state’s much talked about cashless health insurance scheme for the poor is facing teething troubles barely a month after it was launched in July. Under the Rs1,000-crore Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Aarogya Yojana (RGJAY), poor patients are entitled to free treatment. However, all is not well as the city hospitals are flouting norms by charging poor patients enrolled under the scheme. On Monday, Haribhau Kangude (59), a poor farmer from Solapur, heaved a huge sigh of relief as his 29-year-old son Mahadeo underwent a smooth surgery under the scheme. But his joy was shortlived as the hospital staff asked him to pay for injections and pathology tests. Mahadeo became the first patient to undergo a kidney transplant under the scheme. Mahadeo’s mother, Mangal Kangude, 46, donated one of her kidneys to the ailing son. “I have spent close to Rs5,000 from the date of admission on medicines, injections and blood tests. The doctors in the kidney transplant unit had demanded for medicines on an urgent basis. My son was lying in the operation theater needing immediate attention. I had no choice but to purchase these from outside,” said Haribhau. The provisions of the RGJAY clearly mention that it is the duty of the hospital in which the patient has been admitted to make available the necessary medication and arrangements for pathology tests. “The hospital has not been following the norms. Many a times the relatives of the patients purchase medicines from chemists, bills of which, KEM hospital has not raised with the RGJAY head office. Ultimately the patient suffers due to the lackadaisical approach of the hospital,” said a RGJAY officer, requesting anonymity. When asked if the patient’s family had to pay despite having a cashless cover, senior medical officer Dr Praveen Bangar, said, “I am not aware if the family has paid for medical expenses. I will look into the matter.” “Certain amount of seed money or corpus should be made available to the empanelled hospitals for incurring urgent expenses. Certain costly drugs are not available,” said a senior doctor from KEM hospital. “We have been taking regular meetings with empanelled hospitals to implement the scheme effectively. We are working out a solution to seek their co-operation,” said Dr K Venkatesham, CEO, RGJAY.