The North News
Chandigarh, March 28
Punjab has enrolled more than 3.05 million families under its Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna and approved Rs 292 crore worth of free treatment within three months of its launch, Health Minister Balbir Singh has said. The scheme, launched on 8 January, offers cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh to every resident family in the state.
Speaking on Friday, Singh said 30,51,325 families had been registered so far and 1,77,097 free treatment authorisations had been issued.
He said treatment worth Rs 292 crore had been approved, with Rs 267 crore already cleared. According to the minister, 71,000 claims have been settled and Rs 60 crore has been disbursed to empanelled hospitals.
Singh described the programme as a major public healthcare achievement and claimed Punjab had outperformed all other states in registrations, families covered and patients treated.
He said the state government had put in place a system to ensure hospitals received timely payments.
All pending dues up to 31 March would be cleared by 15 April, he said, adding that no hospital would have any unpaid amount from the government.
Under a new payment system from 1 April, claims of up to Rs 1 lakh will be settled within 15 days, while bills above Rs 1 lakh will be cleared within a week of submission, Singh said. Cases requiring verification or dispute resolution would be completed within a month.
The minister said the scheme had already helped patients across age groups, from a one-year-old child to a 99-year-old woman who received cancer treatment.
He said the programme had covered complex cardiac procedures, including treatment for more than 100 heart-related conditions. He also cited the case of a patient with a ruptured sinus who was treated at Patiala Medical College under the scheme.
