Haryana widens net of free health services, beneficiaries
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana health department has expanded the list of beneficiaries exempted from paying medical charges, including per day fee of a bed in the general ward, intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency unit (HDU).
Also, around 70 tests/investigations, for which charges were applicable earlier, will be done free of cost at government hospitals, irrespective of the patient’s financial position.
On May 20, the Haryana government had published the revised hospital fee and charges in supersession of state government’s July 7, 2017 notification. As per the notification published in the gazette, the bed charges of ICU will be ₹500 per day, private room charges will be ₹250 per day, ₹350 per day charge for high dependency unit and ₹10 per day for a general ward bed.
No category has been exempted from ₹250 per day hospital bed charge for the private room.
However, the state government has exempted Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) scheme beneficiaries, survivors of domestic
violence and sexual assault, freedom fighters, and beneficiaries of pension schemes from ₹5 charge as out-patient door (OPD) prescription fee, ₹10 indoor admission fee, ₹10 bed charge of general ward, ₹350 bed charges of HDU and ₹500 for ICU bed.
The holders of Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana gold card have also been included in this category.
The categories including Below Poverty Line (BPL) families of Haryana, antenatal/postnatal women (up to 42 days after delivery), infants (up to 1 year), unconscious or unknown patients, will not pay certain charges including ICU, HDU and general ward bed fee.
“The revised fee structure brings in much more relief to people,” Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary, health, said.
While including at least six new categories in the list of those exempted from paying certain hospital charges, the government has sharply brought down the number of tests to be done free of cost with respect to every category of patient.
As per the July 7, 2017 notification there were 134 tests/investigations for which the patients were being charged. Now, government hospitals will charge fee for around 70 different types of tests and around 68 tests will be done free of cost.
The bone marrow biopsy for which patients earlier had to pay ₹400 will now be free of cost. Similarly, there will be no charges for X-ray, HIV, blood sugar, Haemoglobin Estimation (Hb), Total Leukocyte Count (TLC), uric acid, total protein, dengue, HIV, urine and stool analysis, X-ray, ECG etc. These tests will be done free of cost at government health institutions, the notification says.
PAY FOR POSTMORTEM?
As per the May 20 notification published in the Haryana government gazette in supersession of July 7, 2017 notification about “revised Hospital fee and charges”, the charges for keeping a body in the mortuary of a civil hospital will be ₹300 per day.
In 2017 notification, the post mortem examination was “free for all” and there was no mention of charges for keeping the body in the mortuary.
However, the latest notification at serial number 9 says: “Post Mortem Examination: Free for all.” In the next line, however, it says: “Charges for keeping dead body in mortuary ₹300 per day: For bodies kept for post mortem examination.”
FREE TESTS
The 68 tests that will be done free of cost include ECG, USG, Lipid profile, Rheumatoid Factor (RA), Blood Culture, Urine culture, Biopsy and/Bone marrow aspiration, Total Red Blood Cell Count, Platelet Count by cell counter, Blood Sugar (Fasting/ Random/Post Prandial), blood urea, uric acid, Histopathology-Biopsy and/Bone marrow aspiration Exfoliative, Cytology/ Cytopathology).