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Health activists demand state health mediclaim cover be extended to those without ration cards

Demand for ventilator support not to be a mandatory provision for inclusion under this scheme

@the_news_21

Mumbai: The Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan (JSA) or People’s Health Movement, a worldwide network of health advocacy groups, on July 23 wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding that the state mediclaim policy, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) be extended to non-ration card bearers to facilitate Covid-19 treatment for them in private hospitals.  Maharashtra has the highest Covid-19 cases in the country with over 1, 48,601 active cases of Covid-19 as on July 27. 

The JSA also demanded state directive that all Covid-related respiratory ailments be covered under this scheme without setting ventilator support as a prerequisite condition to benefit from this scheme.  They demanded amendments in the Government Resolution (GR) dated May 23, 20 to ensure include coverage for Covid treatment showing symptoms like kidney and acute respiratory failures even for those who may not need ventilator support.

Currently, state helplines inform critical Covid patients that they could not receive mediclaim cover under MJPJAY unless they were on ventilator. The JSA alleged that many private hospitals used this as an alibi to deny admission to Covid patients who did not require ventilator support. The health activists sought state clarity on this.

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The JSA also sought state intervention to ensure that private Covid affiliated hospitals not refuse or levy charges from patients, even though treatment for about 120 of the total 134 Covid symptoms could be availed in private hospitals. It also demanded that state look into patient’s complaints about hospitals charging them for hospitalisation and services during the pre-authorisation time period. The JSA felt that Arogya Mitra’s in hospitals failed in their duty to inform patients about their eligibility under this scheme and at times even charged money from patients for guiding them. 

They also demanded that the state directive to include white ration-card bearers under the MJPJAY scheme be extended for a year beyond its limit period till July 31. Also, only patients with valid or linked ration cards managed to benefit from the scheme while those with partially invisible numbers on their cards could not benefit from it.

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