Free Covid treatment at private hospitals under Sarbat Sehat scheme for beneficiaries in Punjab

State health minister Balbir Singh 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 will bear the entire differential treatment cost derived after deducting the cost payable by the insurance company from the capped charges, he added

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.

The scheme beneficiaries can directly visit empanelled private hospitals without any need for referral from the public hospitals for Covid-19 treatment, says the Punjab government (REUTERS)

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.