NewsJan 02 , 2016
PM’s National Health Insurance Programme tees off
By Shahina MaqboolFree treatment begins for holders of 6,500 health cards
Islamabad: As many as 6,500 Health Cards were issued to non-affording patients Friday, a day after the launch of the Prime Minister’s National Health Insurance Programme (PMNHIP), under which families earning less than Rs200 per day are now entitled to health insurance facility to access free treatment for secondary and priority diseases.
Monitoring teams were claimed to have been visiting the empaneled public and private sector hospitals all day to oversee implementation of the initiative.
Finer details of the MNHIP, which is the country’s largest public health initiative with an allocation of Rs9.1 billion, were shared with the media during a press conference held at the Press Information Department Friday.
Short Message Service (8500) and a toll-free number (0800 09009) have also been activated to guide and inform beneficiaries in 23 districts where the programme is being piloted in its first phase.
Under the programme, soft loans of Rs5-10 million will be provided to empaneled private hospitals, thereby enabling them to improve their capacity and upgrade their equipment. Empanelled hospitals have prepared subsidised treatment packages for patients who will benefit from the programme.
For instance, a surgery that would routinely entail an expenditure of Rs400,000, will be performed for Rs250,000 for Health Card holders. Holders of Health Cards will be entitled to free treatment worth Rs. 300,000. Should the limit end, treatment will continue with the support of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM), which will contribute another Rs300,000 towards the cost. An agreement formalising this arrangement has already been inked with PBM.
The PMNHIP is being implemented by State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, which secured top ranking among competitors for a premium of Rs1,300 per beneficiary family (per year), of which Rs1,000 will be for secondary care services and Rs300 for priority disease care. The programme has used the database of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for identification of beneficiaries (people living below Proxi Mean test of 32.5).
A Central Management Information System (CMIS) has been developed in collaboration with Nadra for monitoring of programme implementation. The CMIS registers all transactions carried out with Health Cards, thereby offering a platform for supportive supervision and minimisation of fraud.
In order to protect the financial interests of all stakeholders, an Equalisation Reserve Fund has been developed in the programme for recovery of unutilised premium during a contractual period. Under this arrangement, any unutilised premium and any profit earned by the insurance company on the insurance premium shall be distributed between the insurance company and the government at a ratio of 5/95, 10/90 and 15/85 for the first, second and third years, respectively.
The media was informed that the provinces had also started a health insurance programme, but it was merely for treatment of secondary diseases and not fatal diseases that push people below the poverty line. KPK and Sindh are currently not on board, but provincial allocations have been approved under the PMNHIP, and provinces are free to join as and when they please.
Responding to a query, the media was told to expect visible improvement in the overall functioning and of PIMS within the next six months. Catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure on health has robbed the poor of their lifelong earnings, pushing them into a vicious cycle of poverty and debt. Even poor people will now have a choice in terms of where to seek treatment. Given the painfully sorry state of public sector hospitals across Pakistan, a majority will obviously opt for treatment in private hospitals.
Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk
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