Private hospitals in KP earn billions from health card scheme

[313ghazi]

PESHAWAR: The private hospitals have earned Rs8 billion as compared to Rs2 billion earned by public sector health facilities from the income generated through free treatment of patients under Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP) during the last five years.


The government has spent Rs10.5 billion on the free treatment of 423,525 patients in the province. Private hospitals got 78 per cent of the amount and the share of government-owned health facilities was 22 per cent.


Sources said that lack of staff’s share in the income of SSP in government hospitals was the main cause of less income. “The health department is concerned over poor performance of the government hospitals and is going to discuss the issue in the next meeting of the Steering Committee on SSP,” they added.


They told this scribe that health department wanted to enable the public sector hospitals to attract the patients and generate income for its own institutions. “Efforts to create a competitive environment among public and private hospitals have proved futile and the former continue to draw lion’s share from the programme,” they added.



Under the programme, 173 hospitals have been put on the panel including 46 government health facilities and 127 private ones. The selection was made after thorough scrutiny by experts, sources said.

Dept concerned over poor performance of govt health facilities

In 2019, the provincial cabinet approved a ‘funds retention and utilisation formula’ for distribution of funds generated through SSP for the government-owned hospitals. It was meant to give share to the staffers of government hospitals so that they could attend the patients, like private outlets, and enhance their income from SSP.


According to it, 25 per cent of the income would be utilised for improvement of services and maintenance of the facility, 20 per cent for consumable and 30 per cent for doctors, including surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists, pathologists, radiologists and medical officers involved in the investigations and treatment of the insured patients.


Of the income, 15 per cent would go to paramedics and nurses and 10 per cent to the administrative cost. Prior to the formula, the income would go to the government account but after the cabinet’s approval, the income should be retained by the hospitals to improve services.


The health department has also asked the hospitals to form committees under the respective medical superintendents to ensure implementation of the formula but the hospitals continue to deny share to the staff, according to sources.


SSP was launched in collaboration with KfW, a German bank, in four districts in 2015, covering three per cent population of the province. It was extended to 51 per cent population in 2016, then to 69 per cent in 2017 and to the entire province in November 2020. Now, it covers 7.2 million families of the province. They are entitled to seek free treatment in about 500 hospitals in the country.


State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan has been implementing the programme in empanelled hospitals. SSP provides finances for healthcare up to Rs1 million per annum to each of the families. In case of spending Rs1 million, the cards issued to them are re-charged. The scheme has also been replicated in Punjab, Balochistan, parts of Sindh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.


Officials said that government was concerned over the poor performance of the state-run hospitals where the employees drew good salaries but weren’t able to treat the SSP’s patients. In private hospitals, the patients were admitted readily while in government ones, they were kept waiting for longer period as the staff had no interest due to lack of share, they added.


“We are going to ensure that the hospitals provide good environment to the patients. The government is giving about Rs70 billion to the health sector every year in annual budget and Rs12 billion has been given to SSP this year which will be increased to Rs20 billion in the next financial year,” said officials.


They said that government provided buildings besides paying electricity and gas bills, salaries and bore maintenance expenses of the hospitals while the private hospitals paid to their staff only when they earned from patients.


They said that they were going to discuss the issue very soon and all hospitals would be given monthly targets of admissions under SSP.


“The government hospitals are catching up fast. Next year’s budget will definitely have this consideration while funds are distributed particularly to medical teaching institutions,” Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Husain Shah told Dawn.


He said that SSP was a flagship programme, which helped all the people regardless of their financial status.

Private hospitals in KP earn billions from health card scheme

Dept concerned over poor performance of govt health facilities.

www.dawn.com

 

[Trango Towers]

Private hospitals should end.
Private doctors should end.
NhS type system should be set up.
Everyone should pay into the system and free medical should be provided for everyone

 

[313ghazi]

Private hospitals should end.
Private doctors should end.
NhS type system should be set up.
Everyone should pay into the system and free medical should be provided for everyone

To do that effectively is a rich mans game. Ultimately that should be the goal, but we can't fund it yet. This is a good hybrid. We have a state health sector, and a private sector. We cover patients for treatment so they can use whatever facilities are available to them. Hopefully this will encourage expansion of private sector, provide a better quality of service for patients and force state healthcare to improve in order to compete.

 

[Enigma SIG]

Private hospitals should end.
Private doctors should end.
NhS type system should be set up.
Everyone should pay into the system and free medical should be provided for everyone

Good luck with getting everyone to pay into the system. Doesn't guarantee you'll be getting better services. I'd gladly pay for better health services in a private hospital rather than the dehumanizing process that you have to go through in a government hospital in Pakistan.

 

[313ghazi]

Good luck with getting everyone to pay into the system. Doesn't guarantee you'll be getting better services. I'd gladly pay for better health services in a private hospital rather than the dehumanizing process that you have to go through in a government hospital in Pakistan.

The thing is under the new health insurance, state covers the cost, whichever facility you use.

 

[Trango Towers]

To do that effectively is a rich mans game. Ultimately that should be the goal, but we can't fund it yet. This is a good hybrid. We have a state health sector, and a private sector. We cover patients for treatment so they can use whatever facilities are available to them. Hopefully this will encourage expansion of private sector, provide a better quality of service for patients and force state healthcare to improve in order to compete.

No we can easily.
Every family pays a monthly cost per individual that goes into an investable fund. The given mentioned then spends that money on wages building hospitals and supplies.

 

[Sifar zero]

Can anyone educate me how can Pakistan pay for health insurance for a whole province?

 

[fisher1]

Private hospitals should end.
Private doctors should end.
NhS type system should be set up.
Everyone should pay into the system and free medical should be provided for everyone

Says the guy sitting in UK enjoying superior government healthcare.

Chacha ji, you will not be able to spend one second in Pakistani government hospital from the smell and dirtiness and idiotic doctors residing there, heck you will think Pakistani private hospitals are disgusting and you want Pakistanis to suffer and die in govt hospitals.

I agree on one condition, Imran Khan and his sons should be forced to get treatment only in KPK revolutionary govt hospital.

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

... Every family pays a monthly cost per individual that goes into an investable fund. ...

Impossible for Pakistan.

A labourer earns around Rs1,000 a day or around Rs20,000 a month. That's just about enough to pay for food, electricty and gas.

If you work over-time, you can then buy clothes and afford to send children to schools. Therefore, cannot ask the poor populous to pay for anything extra.

The UK has been a very rich nation for a very long time. It had a globetrotting Empire when the NHS, large scale infrastructure and large scale industries were set up.

That has never been the case for Pakistan since inception and will not be for any forseable future. However, there is a small chance that after CPEC is completed in the 2030s, things may radically change for the better.

For now, someone needs to heavily tax all those mansions being built all over the country with remittances by expatriates which is contributing to horrendous inequality instead of opportunity in the country. This money can definitely help with providing some free health services.

 

[jamal18]

The idea of a Pakistani paying into a system to receive free medical treatment is a non-starter.

It has to be free, and the cost paid for by state or local taxes.

And the patient goes to a state doctor, not a privete doctor who will then charge the taxpayer a massive charge for the treatment.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

The UK has been a very rich nation for a very long time. It had a globetrotting Empire when the NHS, large scale infrastructure and large scale industries were set up.

Actually your wrong there. Britain was a horrible place for the working class in days of empire. The men were either sent down the mines, mills to work 12 hours a day earning just enough to live or sent abroad as soldiers and used s cannon fodder across the globe in wars to die far away from home. Those 'gora kabbirstans' you get in Pakistan often have their bones. Their women were used, abused as maids and play things for the elite while the children were made to work after age 12.;

Then the empire began to be wound down after WW2. Particularly after 1947 the empire began to be shed. Funny thing is exactly when the empire was shed the welfare state was including NHS was established from 1948 onwards.

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

Actually your wrong there. Britain was a horrible place for the working class in days of empire. ...

Yes, human rights were no good and social inequality was rampant but the point I was trying to make was that by 1948, Britain had already built up large scale industry and infrastructure such as road, rail, electricity, communications, water, sewerage system, housing, etc.

All that was required after this were reforms in every sector of the society which happened soon after World War 2 ended with little resistance to them.

With reforms, ordinary people suddenly got access to the wealth they never had before i.e. better wages. Taxation from these wages allowed Britain to have the welfare system it enjoys to date.

The same thing has/is happening in China. Infrastructure built first, followed by lifting the population out of poverty.

In Pakistan, visionary leaders like Cartoon-e-Azam PM Imran Khan and other populist leaders around the world believe and attempt to do both at the same time, ie build large scale infrastructure and improve social wellbeing and fail each time at it due to lack of funds.

So, like I said above - Pakistan has chance of improving from 2030s onwards as and when CPEC is completed otherwise, no real improvement will happen for decades.

 

[Trango Towers]

....

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Britain had already built up large scale industry and infrastructure such as road, rail, electricity, communications, water, sewerage system, housing, etc.

I am not being difficult but as somebody who has good grasp of British history [I did it from O to A level] the empire was the product of British industry, smarts, administrtive and military competence. It was this what carried them and gave the edge to take over large part of the globe. People wrongly assume the British pilfered wealth and that is what made them strong.

The first rail line was constructed in 1825. The British had not even conquered what is Pakistan today. What gave them the edge was hard work culture, competent leadership and reduction of influence of religion. This gave the neccessary boost to free enquiry, reason and rationality.

If you drive around Britain most of it was built from 1700-1890s. All this was done by hand. Millions of navvies [labourers] toiled 14 hour shifts and literally built the entire country with stone or brick. Towns, roads, sewers, factories, massive public buildings which still stand, rail network, tunnels etc. All done by hand. In fact they even left some of that building frenzy in Pakistan.

Now what stops 10 million Pakistani's between ages of 18-30 to be drafted and work 14 hours building all of Pakistan with their bare hands? You know it can't be done there would be revolution if anybody tried. Instead majority of that age group bums about all day semi-employed.

Incidentally other countries who got the same hard work ethic also built up their countries and not all of them had empires or colonies. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany [although it had few scraps], USA, Canada, Australia etc.

 

[Trango Towers]

I am not being difficult but as somebody who has good grasp of British history [I did it from O to A level] the empire was the product of British industry, smarts, administrtive and military competence. It was this what carried them and gave the edge to take over large part of the globe. People wrongly assume the British pilfered wealth and that is what made them strong.

The first rail line was constructed in 1825. The British had not even conquered what is Pakistan today. What gave them the edge was hard work culture, competent leadership and reduction of influence of religion. This gave the neccessary boost to free enquiry, reason and rationality.

If you drive around Britain most of it was built from 1700-1890s. All this was done by hand. Millions of navvies [labourers] toiled 14 hour shifts and literally built the entire country with stone or brick. Towns, roads, sewers, factories, massive public buildings which still stand, rail network, tunnels etc. All done by hand. In fact they even left some of that building frenzy in Pakistan.

Now what stops 10 million Pakistani's between ages of 18-30 to be drafted and work 14 hours building all of Pakistan with their bare hands? You know it can't be done there would be revolution if anybody tried. Instead majority of that age group bums about all day semi-employed.

Incidentally other countries who got the same hard work ethic also built up their countries and not all of them had empires or colonies. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany [although it had few scraps], USA, Canada, Australia etc.

Very well said

Good luck with getting everyone to pay into the system. Doesn't guarantee you'll be getting better services. I'd gladly pay for better health services in a private hospital rather than the dehumanizing process that you have to go through in a government hospital in Pakistan.

Oh dear.