Odisha Hospitals face action over Health Insurance Schemes

Bhubaneswar, May 13 (IANS): The Odisha government on Wednesday decided to take action against some health institutions in the state for their failure to provide proper facilities to poor patients under the health insurance schemes.

The state government has introduced a health insurance scheme and smart card system for farmers under Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana while the central government has launched national health insurance scheme Rastriya Swathya Bima Yojana to provide health care benefit to poor people.

The schemes, however, failed to achieve the desired result as some hospitals were reluctant in extending health facilities to patients under them. Some hospitals were not following guidelines to provide treatment under the two schemes and were charging money from the patients, said a health official.

The government has decided to serve them show-cause notice and initiate criminal proceedings against the erring health institutions, if required, he said. This was decided at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Patnaik, who reviewed the implementation of the two schemes, directed officials to expedite the process for creating a separate directorate to oversee the implementation of the schemes.