PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Doctors Association has demanded of the government to increase their payments for services rendered for the free health insurance scheme Sehat Card Plus by over 50 per cent.

It also said that junior medics should have a reasonable share in the income generated by the programme through free diagnosis and treatment at the empanelled public and private sector hospitals.

The PDA insisted that the upward revision of money paid to medics would improve patient care in hospitals as currently, majority of senior consultants were unwilling to offer servicesunder the health insurance scheme due to low payments.

In a letter to senior health officials, the associationsaid that the doctors and other hospital staff members involved in disease diagnosis and treatment under the SCP were low-paid.

It said that a new package was required for health professionals in light of record inflation and rupee depreciation.

Insist move to improve patient care in hospitals

The PDA said that the government offered Rs25,000 for patient treatment under the SCP though it actually cost Rs52,000.

“There is a 50 per cent cost difference, which needs to be addressed at the earliest to make the programme more beneficial for patients as an enhancement of payments will enable senior doctors to start admitting and operating on the SCP beneficiaries, who will subsequently quality services,” it said.

The PDA said the medics and other hospital employees received lower payments for many surgical procedures than their actual costs, so those payments should be increased appropriately.

In the letter, it said for the open drainage of renal collection, the hospitals received Rs5,000 charges for operating theatre, Rs12,000 for OT (pharmacy), Rs7,000 for the ward pharmacy, Rs3,000-Rs4,000 for anesthesia laboratory tests, Rs2,225 for medicines, and Rs25,000 surgeon’s fee, which all weren’t commensurate with the “hard and time-consuming” work performed by staff members.

The association said the money given to the hospital for every case was Rs25,000 against the actual chargeable amount of Rs52,995, while the charges approved under the SCP for hospitals for other procedures were also not in line with the market’s.

It urged the health department to consider increasing payments to the doctors as per the market rates and the hike in the prices of essential commodities.

The PDA also demanded of the government to restore cancer treatment under the SCP saying hundreds of such patients are awaiting free services.

It said it had shared with authorities the details of those cases along with the existing and expected payments.

“The government should revise rates after the presentation of the budget where it is expected that more money will be allocated for the [SCP] programme,” it said.

The association said that the government had been spending Rs28 billion per year but with the formation of the caretaker setup in the province, the health insurance programme didn’t receive the desired money as the State Life Insurance Corporation, the implementer of the initiative, had been suspending and resuming the services due to low allocations.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2023