Cabinet approves total healthcare project

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday approved the details of the total healthcare project (Sampoorna Arogya Keralam) announced in the Budget for the current year.

All healthcare programmes of the government will be brought under this project. Around 42 lakh families with annual income of less than Rs. 3 lakh will be covered.

A trust with Chief Minister as chairman will be formed to oversee the project. It will have a corpus of Rs. 20 crore.

Currently, Rashtriya Swayam Bhima Yojana (RSBY), Health Insurance Scheme, Arogyakiram, CHIS Plus, Karunya Benevolent Fund, Thalolam, Cancer Care project and schemes of various welfare fund boards are being carried out separately. This system is prone to irregularities and misuse as the norms are  different for different schemes. Hence the decision to combine them into a single scheme.

The project will be implemented through agreements with the network of hospitals already associated with the RSBY and Karunya Benevolent Fund. Beneficiaries  who are not already covered under RSBY and CHIS and CHIS Plus schemes will have to produce income certificates from Revenue Department to join the new scheme.

A technical committee will be formed to determine treatment and other procedures to be followed. Recommendations of the committee will be considered by the trust for final approval. The expense of treatment and procedures will be calculated on the basis of the rates of other schemes and market rates. The rates will be revised from time to time through reverse bidding process.

Medical assistance of up to Rs. 1.5 lakh will be provided to a family in a year under the project. Up to Rs. 2 lakh will be given in exceptional cases. Free cancer treatment up to 18 years of age and financial assistance under different schemes will be continued even after crossing the limit of Rs 2 lakh.

Treatment expenses of in-patients will be met for 10 days from the date of discharge and up to 30 days in the event any complication.  Free OP check-up, food for the patient and bystander as well as medicines are also part of the project. Special package for patients who need long term treatment will be determined for up to a year.