PATNA: Over 30,000 poor families in the state will be covered under Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a national health protection scheme, which is meant to provide Rs 5 lakh health insurance coverage to the economically weaker sections of society. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced this ambitious scheme in his Budget speech in February this year.In Bihar Patna Medical College and Hospital ( PMCH ) will be the first healthcare centre to implement the scheme on August 15 this year.“Under Ayushman Bharat Yojana, an annual health security cover of Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family. There will be no bar on family size and age under this scheme. Various types of diseases and implants will be covered under it, including cancer, cardiac ailments, brain diseases and kidney ailments,” PMCH superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said on Friday.He added, “The scheme will consider all secondary and tertiary care procedures of the patients. This will not only include their treatment expenses but also pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization charges, including post treatment drugs.”Dsr Rajiv said the benefit of the scheme would be given in cashless form directly to the beneficiary. “Under the scheme, the hospital will claim reimbursement of the treatment based on the standard prices set by the central ministry, which will be later utilized for the developmental work of the hospital. If the scheme is implemented properly, it will provide relaxation to around 45% of the state population,” he said.Elaborating the scheme, a senior PMCH official said seven categories of packages are there in it. “Patients can avail coronary bypass surgery and knee replacement free of cost,” the official said, adding patients have been identified on the basis of 2011 socio-economic and caste census database. “After the successful implementation of the scheme, the list of patients will be updated by a team of senior officials of the hospital,” the official added.According to a state health department official, the Centre has fixed standard rates for different treatments. “The limit for knee and hip replacements is Rs 9,000, cardiac stenting and angioplasty Rs 40,000, coronary artery bypass surgery Rs 1.10 lakh, caesarean delivery Rs 9,000 and hysterectomy for cancer Rs 50,000. These rates are 15-20% cheaper than the other central government health schemes,” the health department official told this newspaper.

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