LAHORE: The Punjab government has closed down the mega Universal Health Insurance (UHI), also known as Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP), at all the public sector hospitals across the province, suspending all kinds of free healthcare services to the patients visiting the government facilities from June 30 under the programme.

However, the programme would continue to provide listed health care services to the patients at the empaneled private healthcare establishments across Punjab.

“As per approval of the competent authority, implementation of Universal Health Insurance in public sector hospitals is going to be closed on 30th June 2025,” reads a notification issued by Ali Razaque, the chief executive officer of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Committee (PHIMC).

Mr Razaque, who was posted as CEO of the company during the tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab in Oct 2021, claimed that the decision was taken to promote the other health programmes launched by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz as ‘special initiative of the CM’ in the public sector hospitals and offering free of cost healthcare services to the patients.

The programme to continue at private hospitals; experts think the step would backfire

Talking to Dawn, he said that another purpose of discontinuing the UHI coverage to the patients was to end the duplication of the financial benefits to the patients at public hospitals – under CM’s health care initiatives and the SSP at the same time.

He made it clear that the UHI would no longer be a part of the public hospitals in Punjab as the government has shut down the scheme with effect from June 30, 2025.

“As the CEO of the PHIMC, I have directed the heads of all the public sector hospitals across Punjab to follow the instructions in this regard in letter and spirit,” Mr Razaque said.

Therefore, he added, the hospitals had been advised through an official letter to ensure timely submission of all pending claims under the UHI.

For all the hospitals, the deadline for uploading all claims has been set as June 30 as they have been alerted that after the given date the State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) will not entertain any pending claims, Mr Razaque warned.

To a question to further clarify the duplication of the benefits, he said that under the recently launched CM’s health initiatives, the health service delivery for the general public would continue at all empaneled public and private hospitals. These initiatives included the CM’s Children Heart Surgery Programme and Dialysis and Transplant Programme.

So, it has been decided that the patients would not be allowed to get double benefits of the health schemes at the same time at the government hospitals under UHI and the CM’s health initiatives.

On the other hand, the suspension of a years-long programme at the government hospitals has drawn strong criticism for the ‘advisers’ of the Punjab chief minister as some independent medical and public health experts claim that the advisers have absolutely misguided the CM by acting as more loyal than the king.

The experts say that the health-related special initiatives of the CM Punjab are offering treatment to the vulnerable, poor and underprivileged population of the province in public hospitals under ‘selective health initiatives/schemes’ whereas the Sehat Saulat Programme was covering almost all kinds of treatment facilities to the patients. They believe that some of the ‘advisers’ have been associated with the health sector in Punjab for the last many years and are aware of the tactics to please the successive chief ministers by taking ‘famous decisions’ rather than addressing the sufferings of the patients.

The experts believe that the closure of the UHI programme to promote the recently launched CM’s health initiatives would also prove to be one of the most controversial decisions in the near future.

The Sehat Card scheme was formally launched in Lahore and other parts of Punjab in December 2021 to provide free treatment facilities to all patients.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2025