PESHAWAR: Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) has suspended free treatment of heart patients due to low rates offered by the government for operations and procedures performed on Sehat Card Plus.

The public sector PIC stopped providing free healthcare services to heart patients on Saturday, according to sources in State Life Insurance Corporation, the implementer of the cashless treatment programme for the entire population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The institute received 13 per cent lion’s share of the profit earned by hospitals from the SCP in the province last year. It has been asking the health department for revision of packages for cardiac operations and procedures due to the depreciation of rupees in the market.

All the items for heart surgery such as stents and pace-makers are being imported in dollars due to which the prices have gone much higher whereas the surgeons have been paid the same rates since 2019.

“The government has to pay Rs21 billion to SLIC so that it can revise the package of the surgeons and the treatment of cardiac patients remains continued in PIC, which has provided free treatment to 100 per cent of patients on SCP,” sources in health department said.

Officials say meeting being held today to resolve the issue

The government spends Rs28 billion on free treatment programme every year but of late the insurer is not getting the amount timely, which has led to suspension of kidney and liver transplants and treatment of patients requiring dialysis, cancer and intensive care services on SCP.

Sources said that many hospitals still offered heart-related services despite decrease in their profit margin. “PIC, where patients are awaiting their treatment, has also suggested to the health department to allow it to charge patients partially to enhance package of doctors but such issue can be discussed only at the meeting of Policy Board. The proposal regarding co-payment is unlikely to be accepted,” they said.

They said that PIC owed a lot of money and it had not been paying the vendors for the disposable articles used in the operations.

“The institute still is doing all emergencies still on SCP despite the fact that it is not being compensated. It wants to renegotiate the packages in view of a huge increase in input costs,” they added.

Sources said that SLIC had not paid PIC for the previous procedures, conducted by its doctors at old rates.

Officials in health secretariat informed this scribe that a meeting with adviser to chief minister on health in the chair would take place on Tuesday to resolve the issue because the government did not want to discontinue treatment of patients free of cost.

They said that the cardiologists at the institute were not getting proper packages as per market rates in line with rising cost of the disposables. Therefore, their demand for upward revision of rates was genuine, they added.

Under the free treatment programme, SLIC has empanelled more than 1,100 hospitals across the country. These hospitals are paid at the end of every month but in view of non-availability of funds by the government, the firm has been facing hardships in making payments to the hospitals.

“The insurance company can revise the package only after assurance by the government regarding its unpaid dues. The government should increase the rates of PIC at least by 40 per cent,” they said.

A surgery conducted in PIC at Rs300,000 as per SCP’s rate costs Rs500,000 in private sector.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2023