Pvt hosps start refusing Swasthya Sathi cards

Kolkata: With Trinamool voted out of office, several private hospitals have slammed the brakes on admission of patients enrolled under Swasthya Sathi, a flagship scheme of the Mamata Banerjee govt that offers universal health insurance with an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh.While patients with Sw-asthya Sathi cards have faced refusals at hospitals for years due to its alleged ‘poor cost structure', a number of hospitals have stopped recognising the policy, albeit unofficially. All are keen to know the fate of the scheme under the new regime. Officials at several hospitals said they are waiting to see whether the incoming BJP govt would implement the Centre's universal health coverage scheme, Ayushman Bharat, in the state.The head of a private hospital on EM Bypass, which is part of a chain, said they have stopped admissions under Swasthya Sathi. "We will wait for official directions before resuming admissions." Woodlands Hospital has not barred admissions under the scheme, but patients turning up with Swasthya Sathi cards are being screened, said CEO Rupak Barua, who is also the president of Association of Hospitals of Eastern India. "There are issues with rates. So, most hospitals, including ours, are forced to restrict such admissions to cardiac and some cancer cases," Barua said.The hospital administration plans to approach health department officials to know about the fate of the scheme.A multispeciality hospital in south Kolkata is refusing to admit Swasthya Sathi patients unless they are in a critical condition. "So far, we have admitted only patients needing cardiac procedures under the scheme, as the rates for such treatments are reasonable. Around 30 such patients would be admitted daily on average. Since the situation is fuzzy now, we have unofficially stopped such admissions," said a representative of the hospital. Ruby General Hospital has not stopped Swasthya Sathi admissions as claims under the scheme are still being approved. "Admissions are mostly restricted to cardiac procedures, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The future, however, remains unclear," said Subhashis Datta, chief general manager (operations), Ruby.Desun Hospital said it would continue to accept Swasthya Sathi patients till the scheme is scrapped or replaced by the new govt.Most hospitals are worried about payments. "Swasthya Sathi payments have always been delayed. There is now another worry: will we get payments at all?" an official at a hospital chain said."A smooth transition from Swasthya Sathi to Ayushman Bharat is needed for the continuity of medical facilities for Bengal," said Prashant Sharma, CEO of Charnock Hospital and chairperson of the healthcare committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.