How to make Ayushman Bharat a
success
Ayushman Bharat is supposed
to provide guaranteed access to treatment that is free to about 40% of the population selected on the basis of censused
socio-economic indicators. To make
it a success, first and foremost the budgetary support must be strengthened. Guaranteeing
health-care access using private or public facilities presumes tight cost
control. In the case of the PMJAY, this is to be achieved using defined
treatment packages for which rates are prescribed. Costs are a contested area
between the care-providers and the Centre, and many for-profit hospitals see
the government’s proposals as unviable.
The law broadly provides for
standardisation of facilities and reasonable rates for procedures. The 150,000
health and wellness centres of the National Health Protection Mission can play
a valuable role. This is a great
initiative by the government, making health care affordable to weaker sections,
and bolstering the government medicare institution, and will reduce the
dependency of poor people on the public sector for seeking good quality
healthcare which is draining major part of people income.
The unearthed advantage of the
scheme will be the development of a cost effective model for medical facility and
the socio economic well being of citizen. This will not only improve the
quality of treatment of the public sector health care units but also push
private sector to play below their wish to be a part of this medical reform
juggernaut.
This scheme has many advantage
regarding heath and will be a much help to poor who cannot afford expensive
treatment in hospital. Patients especially who are very poor and do not have
money for treatment sell land which is a main resource for earning money and
derive expensive treatment. For such people this scheme will prove to be very
useful.
Needless to say that for poor
people who cannot afford even the minimum of Medical Care this "Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (the insurance component of the scheme)"scheme is
a gift. Looking in a negative lens or belittling the efforts made by the
present Prime Minister Modi for the betterment of general public is uncalled
for. Media should encourage such steps made by the present Govt. It is obvious
that every Government in power always extract some benefits in implementing
such schemes keeping an eye on elections.
Though PMJAY has many challenges
ahead, yet it is one of the biggest health care scheme after Obamacare. At least
present dispensation is initiating it. Inclusivity of the poor who has long
been deprived of healthcare is now accessible to health care services.
Implementation and execution of PMJAY should be such that no leakage will be
there and real beneficiary will get the real benefits.
Ayushman scheme is indeed a boon to
middle class and the marginalised people while they are stranded for getting
huge cash on medical expenses for disease related to heart, kidney, liver, lungs
and other vital organs of the human body. Cashless treatments must be assured
by the scheme to the eligible families. Government must make proper budgetory
allocation to the scheme and make it viable to the public without hassles.
Between five and ten million Indian
families can use an insurance policy to access good quality private healthcare,
of the sort that would cost upto five lakhs a year. Stretching this overnight
to one hundred million families, many living in rural areas, is a leap of
faith. The initial provision of 2,000 crores suggests this is still a programme
in its infancy. Creating the physical infrastructure to deal with such a large
volume of patients is a mammoth task. Like the Smart Cities project, this looks
very nebulous to begin with. The more practical course of action would be to
improve the working and quality of Primary / Central Health Centres, which meet
the needs of 30,000/ 1,00,000 citizens.
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