In a major reprieve to weaker and underprivileged sections of society, Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday announced that the state government has decided to provide free treatment to Covid-19 patients falling under the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (SSBY) in empanelled private hospitals.
Sidhu said the facility will be available in the hospitals equipped with offering Covid-19 treatment at rates ranging from ₹8,000 to ₹18,000 per day. The state government will bear the entire differential treatment cost derived after deducting the cost payable by the insurance company from the capped charges, he said in a statement.
The minister said that cap rates are all-inclusive, that includes bed, PPE kits, medicines, consumables, monitoring/nursing care, doctor’s fee, investigations, oxygen, etc.
“The SSBY beneficiaries can directly visit empanelled private hospitals without any need for referral from the public hospitals for Covid-19 treatment,” he added.
Earlier, the treatment available in these empanelled private hospitals was payable as per SSBY scheme rates fixed by central government that range from ₹1,800 to ₹4,500.