Ayushman scheme: Bypass surgeries, other procedures to get cheaper

NEW DELHI: Keeping the promise of providing affordable quality healthcare services, the government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finalised the package for treatment procedures, surgeries and investigations for the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS).

As per the final package rate, an NHPS beneficiary would be able to go for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) commonly known as bypass surgery at a fixed rate of Rs 1.10 lakh at any private or government hospital authorised to treat patients under national health insurance cover scheme. At present, private hospitals charge up to Rs 5 lakh for bypass surgeries.

According to sources in the government, the Health Ministry has fixed the prices of 1,352 types of different procedures, surgeries and investigations, including hysterectomy, hip replacement, tumour evacuation, etc.

The Health Ministry, according to sources, has fixed the package for a total hip replacement for the NHPS beneficiaries at Rs 90,000, while the cost of hysterectomy procedure, which is being used to treat cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers, has been fixed at Rs 50,000. Notably, the cost of hip replacement at a private hospital would cost between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, while the charges for hysterectomy procedure are around Rs 1.50 lakh.

However, the buzz is that the scheme is slated to be launched by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15 this year.

The sources further said that the NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare) accredited hospitals would get 10 percent incentive for providing healthcare facilities to beneficiaries, while a proviso of providing 10 percent to medical education institutions has also been included in the treatment package plan.

“The states have been a free-hand to revise the package price. They can increase the package rate maximum by 10 percent from the prescribed rate,” the sources said.

The scheme aims to provide ten crore poor and vulnerable families up to Rs 5 lakh cover for secondary and tertiary care and expects to reduce patient hospitalisation expenditure. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech on February 1, had dubbed the scheme as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme.

Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country, and a beneficiary covered under the NHPS would be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/ private empanelled hospitals across the country.