State Government mulling health cover expansion under various schemes

 

 

Maharashtra Government is contemplating to expand the health cover’s scope so that more diseases would come under the ambit of various health schemes. It is also considering to allot more funds to organ transplants too. Considering the possibility of Nagpur becoming cancer capital, the Government is planning to enhance treatment facilities for this dreaded disease. About a month ago, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced of generating a corpus fund for organ transplants and other diseases whose treatment cost goes beyond Rs 5 lakh. As per his instructions, the State Directorate of Medical Education and Drugs Department has started working on drafting an inclusive policy for the expansion of the health cover.

 

At present there are 1,356 procedures being covered under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jana Aarogya Yojana. Now Fadnavis has planned to double the procedure so that more needy people could avail benefit. Meanwhile considering increase in number of cases of cancer in Nagpur, Devendra Fadnavis has planned to raise the treatment facilities here. During a media interaction he said, “The work of a building of RST Cancer Hospital was pending during the MVA Government. We had allotted some funds out of which the building came up in the premises of Super Speciality Hospital.

 

We will provide more funds to make the hospital well-equipped. It is a charity hospital so the patients can be benefitted largely. One cancer hospital attached to Government Medical College and Hospital is under construction. To add to these cancer treatment centres, National Cancer Institute (NCI) is there serving poor and needy.” There are nine procedures related to heart, lung, kidney whose cost is not affordable to poor including Bone Marrow Transplants. Fadnavis assured that these would be covered through the corpus fund to be created by the State Government.