Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra on Thursday said a meeting of representatives from private hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (ABARK) scheme will be held on March 8 to address grievances of the scheme beneficiaries.
He was speaking at a programme to distribute Ayushman Bharat cards to journalists at the Mangaluru Press Club organised by the Dakshina Kannada District Working Journalists’ Association here.
Dr. Rajendra said he has already asked hospitals to conduct minimum investigation on patients before they were admitted so as to reduce their financial burden. ABARK becomes applicable only after the patient was admitted to a hospital.
The DC said over 23,000 patients, including 4,275 COVID-19 positive ones, have availed the benefits of ABARK in the district since its launch in 2018.
ABARK district nodal officer Rathnakar said a referral letter from the district government hospital was a must for a BPL cardholder or other beneficiary of ABARK scheme to get treatment in empanelled private hospitals.
But, patients in need of emergency medical care, including accident victims, may directly get admitted to the nearest empanelled private hospital without the referral letter and avail benefits of ABARK.
Dr. Rathnakar said a patient in BPL category could get treatment up to ₹5 lakh while non-BPL could get 30% discount up to treatment cost of ₹5 lakh under ABARK.
The scheme was applicable for treatment only in general wards. ABARK cell at the district level accords approval within 30 minutes of being informed about the admission, Dr. Rathnakar said. Patients/ relatives may call Dr. Rathnakar (9880157604), Dr. Jagannath Shirlal (9480161055) or Dr. Naushad (8197350823) to get approval.
He said 35 private hospitals, including eight medical colleges, were empanelled in the district under ABARK that caters to 1,650 categories of diseases.
Dr. Rathnakar said BPL beneficiaries of ABARK could get cataract surgery done completely for free in six of the private hospitals in the district.
On the occasion, Dr. Rajendra distributed ABARK cards to a few journalists.
