National Health Protection Scheme could be game-changer, say Ggn docs

Gurugram: One of the highlights of the Union Budget 2018 was the announcement of the National Health Protection Scheme.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called it a "flagship project, where 50 crore Indians will be given health insurance of Rs 5 lakh per year for secondary and tertiary medical treatment."

According to medical experts in Gurugram, the scheme, if implemented well, can prove to be a game-changer for the lop-sided healthcare infrastructure in Gurugram, the third richest city in the country in terms of per capita income.

While most private hospitals in the city have adequate medical infrastructure, the same cannot be said of the public health care set-up.

The poor state of affairs can be gauged from the fact that despite having an estimated population of 20,00,000 citizens, there is no trauma centre in Gurugram's public hospitals.

A reply to an RTI query revealed that inadequate public healthcare infrastructure resulted in 10,000 patients being referred to Delhi government hospitals between 2004 and October 2017.

On the other hand, the recent incidents of medical negligence reported from major private hospitals in Gurugram have raised question over the transparency in their functioning, ethics and intent to serve the poor.

"It is not that private hospitals don't want to serve the poor, but the cost factor for long has been a major concern. It is easy to say that you are deliberately not provide subsidised medical treatment. But the reality is that world-class medical treatment is expensive," said a senior doctor at a private hospital.

"It is a welcome step that the government has increased the insurance cover. This will now reduce the burden for public hospitals and give people the impetus come to private hospitals., which the used to avoid due to high costs," he added

Social activist Sheetal Gulati, who has been advocating for a robust public health care system, provided a contrarian view, saying, "It is sad the that government has given up development of public healthcare facilities and given the responsibility to the privates. Recent examples have shown that more than social service, it is greed and profits that drive the management at private hospitals."