PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government plans to deduct a certain amount from the payments made to public sector hospitals under the free health insurance programme.

“We have given a presentation to chief minister regarding the plan of deduction from public hospitals along with other initiatives to further improve the scheme,” Health Minister Khaliqur Rehman told Dawn.

According to him, the plan once finalised will be presented to cabinet for approval. The plan also includes strengthening oversight on the programme to ensure that funds are utilised for deserving patients and people don’t suffer.

“We want to further expand Sehat Card Plus (SCP) services to local level. It is the flagship programme of PTI for which we have enhanced budget from Rs35 billion in 2025 to Rs41 billion with a view to improve services,” said Mr Rehman.

Law to be amended for giving legal cover to the plan

Sehat Card Plus (SCP) programme was launched in 2015, covering 3pc population in four districts of the province. It was expanded to 51pc people in 2016 to provide free health services to poor population. It was expanded further to 69pc in 2017, and eventually started universal 100pc coverage across the entire province in 2020.

So far, the provincial government has spent more than Rs155 billion to provide cashless medical services to 5.7 million patients in designated hospitals. The government has empanelled public and private hospitals where 10.6 million families of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are eligible to seek treatment up to Rs1 million per year. Of the spent amount, more than 50pc has gone to public hospitals.

The programme is implemented through State Life Insurance Corporation all over the country. There are a total of 1,000 empanelled hospitals across the country where residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are entitled to receive free services on their national identity cards.

Sources in health secretariat said that a fortnight ago, a briefing was given to Chief Minister Sohail Afridi wherein the issue regarding deduction from the income of SCP from medical teaching institutions and public hospitals came under discussion.

“Public hospitals receive funds from government while doctors, nurses, paramedics and other employees receive salaries, therefore, deduction should be done from the income they generate through SCP,” they said.

For this purpose, the department has also started work on a summary to incorporate amendments to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universal Health Act, 2020, to give legal cover to the plan regarding deduction.

The Act says that empanelled hospitals shall be paid by the insurance firm for the provision of services in a manner, as may be prescribed by regulations and public hospitals shall retain, without loss of budget, all of the additional income.

The additional income shall be retained and utilised for the improvement of quality of healthcare services and payment of incentives to hospital staff in such a manner, as may be prescribed.

“So, an amendment is needed to be inserted and passed from the cabinet and subsequently from provincial assembly to pave the way for deduction,” sources said.

As per the plan, the government will retain 20pc of the total income from respective public hospitals. The logic behind the plan is that doctors and other staff earn money from institution-based practice (IBP) while the whole income is retained by hospitals.

The hospitals also generated funds from users’ charges, like investigation, admission and operation theatre charges and got regular budget from the provincial kitty, they said.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2026