Dental services likely to be free in Haryana from January 1

The Haryana government, which would be launching the Mukhyamantri Muft Ilaaj Yojana (chief minister free health services scheme) to provide essential health care services free of cost at its all health institutions from primary to tertiary level from January 1, 2014, is likely to include dental care services.

Stating that the scheme would be launched at an estimated cost of about RS 261 crore, an official release said on Sunday that there was also a plan to provide free dental treatment to all residents of the state, coming to various government health institutions and Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences (PGIDS), Rohtak.

As of now, one has to pay for 23 procedures, while it was proposed that out of these procedures, 18 would be performed free at all the health institutions of the state. Likewise, patients were being charged for 39 procedures at PGIDS, Rohtak, and it was proposed that all procedures would be free for all except dental implants and fixed orthodontics.

The release added that as the health department intended to widen the scope of the scheme, there would be a provision of all types of surgeries under surgery package programme among which 229 surgeries would be provided free of cost.

The implants if and when required for the surgery would be free for BPL category, residents of slums, handicapped patients and poor patients, who do not belong to any free category, patients belonging to Scheduled Castes and economically weaker sections and unattended victims of roadside accidents.

Though all the investigations would be offered free at all the district hospitals, a minimum of 30 investigations would be provided free to all the patients coming to the district hospitals, the release said, adding that the government had also decided to provide free X-ray, ECG and USG facilities, wherever available in health institutions of the state government, to all patients.