Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With the opening of super-speciality (SS) centres in medical colleges, treatment costs will be reduced by up to 75% in Madhya Pradesh. While treatment will be free of cost for Ayushman Bharat card holders, patients without these cards will have to only bear the cost of medicines.
Other medical charges for surgery and services, for which private hospitals charge hefty amounts, will be waived. Consequently, non-Ayushman card holders will have to bear only one-fourth to one-fifth of the usual cost for medicines, according to doctors.
The state cabinet has approved the Centres, though the facilities are yet to open. The government has earmarked approximately Rs2,000 crore over the next five years to develop these advanced medical facilities, which include cath labs and organ transplant units across medical colleges.
Explaining the cost structure at government facilities, Shyamji Rawat, HoD of the State Cancer Institute, Jabalpur, said: Be it Ayushman card holders or non-card holders, government hospitals provide free treatment. So, in super-specialities, once developed, it will be free for all patients.
If nominal charges are fixed for some services, it is up to the medical superintendent concerned to waive them.
Highlighting the disparity between private and public healthcare costs, Ajay Sharma, a professor of cardiology at Gandhi Medical College, said: Private hospitals with cath labs charge Rs2 lakh, while the same treatment is done for Rs 50,000 in Hamidia Hospital for non-Ayushman card holders.
For Ayushman card holders, it is free. The opening of SS Centres in medical colleges will be cost-effective for common patients as they will only have to pay for medicines. In the case of non-Ayushman card holders, this will be only 25% of the total cost. Overall, cost is reduced by 75% in government medical colleges.
