Treatment on health card to continue but not for all? Why?
LAHORE: Punjab caretaker ministers Dr Javed Akram and Amir Mir declared on Sunday that treatment under the health card would continue, but not to everyone.
They said at a press conference here that anyone who travels overseas or has a mobile phone bill of Rs8,000 or more will no longer be eligible for free treatment under the health card.
“If someone’s mobile [phone] bill is Rs8,000 and their electricity bill is Rs100,000, they are not poor.” We will now obtain data on deserving individuals from the Social Welfare Department. “There is no political motivation behind the health cards,” they continued.
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“If someone wants to get medical treatment from a private hospital, the individual should bear 30% of the costs, and the government will bear the remaining 70%,” the minister stated. Dr. Javed Akram, caretaker health minister, said there was widespread abuse of health cards introduced by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. He stated that the policy decision was made to save money. He said that unauthorised usage of the health card drained resources.
To address the issue, a Rs1.5 billion fund had been established, and only the government hospitals would provide free heart treatment. Furthermore, the minister stated that the government had decided to limit the presence of the Pakistani flag on the health card.
Amir Mir, Minister of Information, stated that the health card scheme would continue with minor restrictions. He argued that the health card has previously been abused, resulting in individuals benefitting from it. He stated that the Sehat Card Scheme was launched under Nawaz Sharif’s tenure in 2015, but only for deserving individuals.
To prevent misuse of the health insurance provision, Dr. Javed Akram said that Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) would be used as Sehat Health Cards. He claimed that because of the Sehat Cards’ misuse, some people became billionaires. “The data from the Benazir Income Support Programme is insufficient.” The programme had begun for the benefit of the impoverished. “It was discovered that stents were being used unnecessarily because of health cards,” he added. In response to a question, the health minister stated that the election commission, not the caretaker government, was in charge of holding elections.
