Question : FREE TREATMENT TO POOR PATIENTS

(a) whether the Government is providing financial assistance to the poor for treatment;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government proposes to simplify the procedure for providing financial assistance to poor for treatment;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the number of applications received for the said assistance during the last three years alongwith the number of applicants to whom grant was actually sanctioned;

(e) whether the Government also proposes to launch a new scheme for providing assistance to poor patients requiring specialised treatment; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)

(a) & (b): The Government of India is providing financial assistance to the poor patients under the following schemes:
(i) Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi(RAN)
(ii) Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG).

Under RAN, financial assistance is provided to the patients living below poverty line, who are suffering from major life threatening diseases to receive medical treatment at Govt. hospitals. The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of ‘one time grant’ to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital in which the treatment is being received. Under the scheme of RAN, the Central Govt. also provides Grant-in-Aid to the States/Union Territories with legislature for the State Illness Assistance Funds set up by them to the extent of 50 % of their contribution to the State Funds.

The Illness Assistance Fund at the State/UT level releases financial assistance to patients living in their respective States/UTs upto Rs. 1.5 lakh in an individual case and forward all such cases to RAN, where the quantum of financial assistance is likely to exceed Rs. 1.5 lakh.

Under the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF) set up within RAN, the criteria are as under:

(i) Financial assistance is provided to patients, below poverty line suffering from Cancer and undergoing treatment in Government hospitals and any of the 27 Regional Cancer Centres.

(ii) The financial assistance to the cancer patient up to Rs.1.00 lakh is processed by the concerned Institutes /Hospitals through the revolving fund placed at their disposal. The cases of financial assistance above this limit are to be referred by them for assistance from Central Funds.

The criteria for assistance to poor patients under Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) are as under:

(i) Poor patients with family income less than Rs.75,000/- annually and suffering from major illness and requiring one time treatment in government hospitals/institutions are eligible for financial assistance under HMDG.

(ii) Financial assistance limits are as: (a) Rs.20,000/- if the estimated cost of treatment is up to Rs. 50,000/- . (b) Rs. 40,000/- if the estimated cost of treatment is above Rs. 50,000/- & up to Rs. 1,00,000/- .(c) Rs.50,000/- if the estimated cost of treatment is above Rs.1,00,000/-.

(c)& (d): There is no proposal for modifying the existing procedure. All eligible patients have been provided financial assistance under RAN and HMDG. Number of applications received and no. of patients to whom grants have been provided under the above schemes during the last three years are follows:

Year	RAN	HMDG
No. of	No of patients	No. of	No of patients	applications	provided with	applications	provided with	received	grants	received	grants

2007-08	643	212	864	210

2008-09	642	259	765	143

2009-10	699	216	746	167

(e) No.