The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has released Rs2 billion funds for the Sehat Card Plus scheme after the insurance company suspended its services for the sixth time in a row.
After the payment, healthcare has been restored on the Sehat Card for the time being.
The provincial government has been passing through a severe financial crisis due to the non-payment of dues by the federal government. This has affected the payment of dues to the State Life Insurance Company.
The funds were released on the special instructions of Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan.
Also read: Admission of patients on Sehat Card halted
Talking to The Express Tribune, Adviser to CM on Health Dr Riaz Anwar said that reforms were being introduced to remove shortcomings in the Sehat Card which will improve its efficiency considerably.
He said that all unnecessary development projects in the MTI hospitals had been halted too in order to save money and these hospitals had been asked to focus their attention on the treatment of patients.
“For the time being, we don’t need new buildings in the MTI hospitals as we are trying to improve the healthcare in these hospitals,” he said.
On Friday, the State Life Insurance Company suspended the free treatment facility under the Sehat Card Plus programme across K-P due to non-payment of dues by the provincial government.
This suspension caused significant problems for patients in the province as the insurance company instructed all its panel hospitals to cease offering free treatment and stop admitting new patients.
An official mentioned that the insurance company had informed its panel hospitals that their desks would remain open, but new patients should be referred to public sector hospitals.
This marked the sixth time that the treatment under the Sehat Card had been suspended by the company. The situation left the general public in a difficult position due to the uncertainty and frequent disruptions in healthcare services.
Each time this facility was suspended, the government was compelled to release nominal funds, but the dues were not fully settled.
The government currently owed Rs35 billion to the insurance company, and SLIC had urgently requested the K-P government to pay Rs10 billion to address the outstanding payments.
Read more: K-P resolves funding for Sehat Card Plus
On Oct 5, a crucial meeting was held at the Chief Minister House in Peshawar, presided over by Azam.
The meeting focused on addressing challenges faced by the Sehat Card programme and implementing reforms approved by the provincial cabinet.
Key decisions were made during the meeting to ensure the sustainability of the Sehat Card Scheme and address pending payments to SLIC, which was the implementing partner.
These decisions aimed to establish regular monthly instalments for payments to the insurance company, thereby ensuring smoother financial operations and maintaining the programme’s financial stability.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2023.
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