PESHAWAR: Proposed changes to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sehat Card Plus programme during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government could have required patients to bear additional healthcare costs, including a proposed 20% contribution for selected treatments at private hospitals, according to a report by Express News.
The proposals, discussed at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on September 10, were aimed at reducing the programme’s expenditure but included measures that could have restricted access to certain treatments and increased out-of-pocket costs for patients.
According to the report, the proposed changes could have generated Rs9 billion through measures that included requiring patients to pay 20% of treatment costs for selected procedures at private hospitals.
Another proposal sought to restrict expensive, non-emergency treatments to government hospitals, potentially limiting patients’ options for accessing care at private facilities.
The proposals also included removing several medical services from the programme and revising payments to public hospitals by 10% to 15%.
Officials estimated that restricting expensive, non-emergency treatments could save Rs1.7 billion, while excluding less complex treatments could save another Rs379 million, the report said.
The proposals raised questions about whether efforts to contain healthcare expenditure would have increased the financial burden on patients who rely on the programme for treatment.
Documents cited in the report indicated that the proposed changes, including measures to recover Rs9 billion from patients, required formal approval from the chief minister or the provincial cabinet.
Sources told the publication that Afridi did not sign the proposed summary because of his commitments to political activities surrounding a long march.
The proposed changes were not implemented after governor’s rule was imposed in the province on October 11, according to the report.
The development comes amid political controversy over the continuation of healthcare services under Sehat Card Plus. PTI has criticised the issue of treatment access following the imposition of governor’s rule, while the reported proposals have raised questions about the party’s own plans for reducing programme costs.
The reported measures were proposals rather than an implemented policy. Their potential impact on patients would have depended on the final terms and whether the provincial government approved them.
