E-Paper
72-year-old cancer patient in Bengaluru dies by suicide after being declined Ayushman Bharat scheme benefit: Report
The hospital in Bengaluru declined to provide him with ₹5 lakh cover under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
A 72-year-old Bengaluru resident, who was diagnosed with gastric cancer, reportedly died by suicide on December 25 after being declined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) benefits for the treatment.
The victim was a retired state government employee and died 15 days after his cancer diagnosis, The Times of India reported.
The report added that the patient was more shocked when he realised that the hospital declined to provide him with ₹5 lakh cover under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana senior citizen scheme for which he had enrolled, one of the family members said.
READ | Solve air pollution not cancer: US millionaire Bryan Johnson's blunt advice for India to fight ‘silent killer’
“Even though we had created an AB PM-JAY senior citizen card providing him with ₹5 lakh annual cover, the Kidwai Memorial Institute Of Oncology (KMIO) denied the benefit, saying that the state govt orders had not arrived yet. However, it extended us a 50% discount,” TOI quoted a family member as saying.
Dr Ravi Arjunan, director in-charge, KMIO, told the newspaper that the senior citizen scheme was yet to be implemented and the orders on the same were still awaited.
The Karnataka government confirmed that it is yet to implement the scheme and has sought clarifications on its funding aspects, it added.
The scheme provides for ₹5 lakh free insurance coverage for people aged 70 years and above.
READ | Can ultra-processed foods raise cancer risk? Doctor explains the dangers
The family member recalled that just the initial scans cost ₹20,000, and further chemo sessions were needed for the treatment.
"We planned on starting two rounds of chemo at Kidwai itself. We were ready to pay, but then we lost him to suicide in just two days. I am not saying it was directly due to unavailability of the benefit, but he knew it did not come through and was already stressed," the family member told the publication.
Another beneficiary, Lalithamba BV, Bengaluru Navanirmana Party head of campaigns, techie and co-founder of Hasiru Mitra, also recalled the problems she faced using the card for her 87-year-old father.
READ | Bengaluru techie suicide: Denying grandson's custody, SC says deceased's mother 'stranger to child'
“We got the card in the first week of November 2024. However, on December 13, when my father was admitted to a private hospital, the card could not be processed. We called up the Ayushman Bharat helpline, where we were told there were no instructions from the government to use it,” ToI quoted Lalithamba as saying.
The Karnataka health and family welfare department admitted that there is a problem in the AB PM-JAY senior citizen health assurance scheme.
