Question : Financial Assistance to Poor under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi

(a) the details of norms fixed and the process adopted to provide financial assistance to poor patients under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, cancer patient fund and other discretionary funds;

(b) whether the Government has received complaints regarding delay in processing of applications seeking financial assistance under the said funds and death of patients due to the said delay;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken to ensure timely action on the applications?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides financial assistance for treatment of poor patients suffering from identified life threatening diseases and taking treatment in Government hospitals, under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant.

Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN): Under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, one-time financial assistance upto Rs. 15 lakh is provided to patients belonging to poor families living below threshold poverty lines and suffering from major identified life threatening diseases for medical treatment at Government hospitals.

The scheme has three components, namely (i) Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) – to provide financial assistance to patients suffering from life threatening diseases other than Cancer, (ii) Health Minister’s Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF) - to provide financial assistance to patients suffering from Cancer; and (iii) Scheme for financial assistance for patients suffering from specified rare diseases. The scheme for financial assistance for patients suffering from specified rare diseases is implemented as per the relevant provisions of National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021.

Guidelines regarding implementation of Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi is available at https://main.mohfw.gov.in/Major-Programmes/poor-patients-financialassistance/rashtriya-arogya-nidhi.

Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG): Under Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG), financial assistance up to a maximum of Rs. 1.25 lakhs is provided to the poor indigent patients to defray a part of the expenditure on hospitalization/treatment in Government Hospitals for life threatening diseases covered under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) in cases where free medical facilities are not available. Only those having annual family income up to Rs.1.25 lakhs and below are eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.

(b) & (c) No complaints regarding delay in processing of applications seeking financial assistance under the RAN and HMDG Scheme have been received in the last two years.
(d) In order to streamline the functioning of RAN and HMDG and to expedite the approvals, Government has launched these schemes on the National Health Authority IT platform.