Mysuru: User fees for all treatments imposed on patients at K.R. Hospital by the State Government is just to bring a bad name to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP Government at the Centre as it had implemented the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ for the welfare of the poor, said MLA S.A. Ramdas.

He was addressing a press conference at a private hotel here this morning and said under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme the poor were covered with an insurance amount of Rs.5 lakh where they could get treated first for up to Rs.1.5 lakh, Rs.2 lakh and even up to Rs. 5 lakh and the government would settle the bill.

However, under the ‘Ayushman Bharat Ayushman Karnataka’ implemented by the Karnataka Government, there are lot of loopholes and hence it is becoming very difficult for the poor to avail health benefits.

Instead of the insurance mode that this scheme is meant for, it has turned to an assurance mode, he ridiculed.

If a person has multiple health issues he cannot be going to different hospitals for treatment of different ailments.

But in the Ayushman Karnataka scheme just to get a NOC (No Objection Certificate) for the patient to go to any other hospital for treatment, he has to run from pillar to post as he is harassed by the hospital staff for bribe, charged Ramdas.

While throughout the country there is one-policy rule under Ayushman Bharat that all the States have adopted, it is only in Karnataka that there are problems. For instance the State Government had said that there were only 52 lakh BPL (Below Poverty Line) card holders whereas there are nearly 1.12 crore BPL card holders who are now deprived of the health benefits, he said.

He had written to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Health Minister Shivanand Patil in this regard. While the latter did not reply, the CM wrote to him that he also agreed that there were a few lapses which would be set right. But till now nothing had happened, said Ramdas.

He said that various schemes like ‘Vajpayee Arogya Shree’, ‘Yashsasvini scheme’, ‘Rajiv Arogya Bhagya’, ‘Janani Suraksha Yojana’, ‘Jyothi Sanjivini Scheme’ had all been merged under the Arogya Karnataka Scheme, which is also causing problems. If these problems are not resolved at the earliest, he would file a PIL, he said.

MLA L. Nagendra said that a busy hospital like K.R. Hospital teeming with patients required more than 50 ventilators but there were just 10 to 12 out of which three to four are not working. There is also huge shortage of staff. The Hospital required about 1200 staff but there were only 260 staff and even in that 60 were retired staff who had been redrafted to work.

He charged that the State  Government was not implementing the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme properly.

Strike at K.R. Hospital tomorrow

MLA S.A. Ramdas said that the BJP would launch an agitation tomorrow in front of the K.R. Hospital opposing the implementation of the user fee for poor patients.

The agitation will be intensified if the fee is not withdrawn, he warned and added that the Government cannot give an excuse of the Model Code of Conduct as this issue is related to the health of the people who will be deprived of health services as they are unable to pay for their treatment.