The 76-year old underwent a heart surgery at a Surat hospital on Thursday under the Centre's cashless medical insurance scheme.
Eknath Palikar from Malkapur in Buldhana district became the first patient from Maharashtra to be treated in another state under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). The 76-year old underwent a heart surgery at a Surat hospital on Thursday under the Centre's cashless medical insurance scheme.
"This is the first case where a patient from Maharashtra has been treated in another state under the Ayushman Bharat scheme... Patients from states outside Maharashtra like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and the North East come here for treatment under Ayushman Bharat. But, this was the first case where a patient from Maharashtra was treated in another state," said Dr Sudhakar Shinde, CEO, Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MPJAY), adding that the Central scheme had a provision for portability across states.
Shinde said the portability would help people from the border districts of Maharashtra seek medical aid in neighbouring states like Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.
Palikar's daughter Ujjwala Itnave, who stays in Surat, told DNA over phone that her father underwent a bypass and valve replacement procedure at a private hospital in Surat. "He had been treated earlier at this hospital. We read about the Ayushman Bharat scheme on the internet and decided to avail it," she said.
Itnave added that a few days ago, after problems with the software and delays in securing permissions for the surgery, she had called up the Prime Minister's Office to complain, after which the process picked up pace and the consents came through.
The PMJAY or the Ayushman Bharat scheme was launched in Maharashtra on September 23 and covers 83.72 lakh families identified under the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, for free medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually for 1,350 medical packages and procedures. The state government is integrating the MPJAY and PMJAY, which will cover 90 per cent of the population, and the PMJAY is being implemented in 79 government hospitals and medical colleges in addition to MPJAY empanelled healthcare institutions.
The MPJAY covers beneficiaries from around 2.25 crore BPL and APL ration card holding families for hospitalisation coverage up to Rs 1.50 lakh on floater basis in empanelled hospitals. At present, 492 hospitals across Maharashtra are empanelled under the MPJAY to conduct 974 therapies and surgeries with 121 follow-up packages in 30 identified specialities like general surgery, paediatric surgery, and radiation oncology. This largely covers secondary and tertiary treatment.
Launched as the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (RGJAY), the scheme was re-christened as MPJAY in 2017. In 2016, the state legislature's estimates committee had red-flagged lacunae in the scheme including use of cheap quality critical equipment like pacemakers, valves and stents, which adversely affect the health of patients and reuse of consumables.
Shinde added that they were working on including additional therapies and procedures in the MPJAY to ensure comprehensive treatment for beneficiaries.
THE BENEFICIARIES
- The Ayushman Bharat scheme was launched in Maharashtra on September 23 and covers 83.72 lakh families for free medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually for 1,350 medical packages and procedures
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