Sehat Card Plus services suspended in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Irfan Khan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The Sehat card plus services have been suspended in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to non-payment of dues by the provincial government. The state-owned insurance company, State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC), has sent a letter to all registered hospitals in the province, asking them to stop accepting new patients under the Sehat Card Plus programme.

The company says that the provincial government owes it Rs10 billion in dues. It has sent several letters to the caretaker KP government in the past, but no payment has been received.

According to SLIC, it sent four letters to the KP government: the first on August 17, the second on August 21, the third on August 27, and the fourth on September 2.

The insurance company’s position in this matter is that Rs13.5 billion is from the previous financial year 2022-23 and Rs5 billion is from the current financial year. In July, the insurance company had outstanding dues of Rs21.5 billion, of which Rs3 billion were released after repeated reminders and threats to close services

The company stated that it sent a letter to the caretaker KP government in August saying that if they settle the outstanding Rs18.5 billion, they would continue to offer their services.

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The company says that it has kept the services running until now at the request of Caretaker Chief Minister, Muhammad Azam Khan but it is now forced to take action.  According to sources within the insurance company, they initially believed that the Chief Minister would guarantee the payment of dues. However, it now appears that he lacks the authority to do so. Additionally, the Health Minister’s Advisor is attempting to manage the situation by resorting to issuing threats.

In order to suspend health card plus services, the insurance company sent a letter to the hospitals yesterday. The letter stated that all hospitals registered with the Health Card Plus panel should not admit new patients through the Sehat Plus card programme. However, Sehat Sahulat desks at the hospitals will remain open to collect dues.

According to sources, the insurance company has significant reservations this time. The State Life Insurance Board has taken this matter seriously during the meeting, and the government’s lack of attention has raised questions about the future of the Sehat Card Plus programme.

On the other hand, sources have also claimed that the Advisor to the Health Minister, on Monday, will discuss the matter with the Chief Minister regarding the Sehat plus card and will make efforts to provide the insurance company with Rs6 billion so that two months’ worth of oxygen can be obtained for Health Card Plus. However, the issue here is that after two months, an additional Rs9 billion will be required for the remaining three months. After that, the total expenses for Health Card Plus will once again reach Rs21.50 billion.

On the other hand, sources claim that the Advisor to the Health Minister will meet with the Chief Minister on Monday to discuss the Sehat Card Plus program. The advisor will try to provide the insurance company with Rs6 billion so that two months’ worth of oxygen can be secured. However, the issue is that after two months, another Rs9 billion will be required for the second quarter. This means that the outstanding dues for the program will amount to Rs21.5 billion.

The outstanding dues of Rs13.5 billion for the previous financial year were accumulated during the previous caretaker government and have continued since then.

Regarding this matter, Hum News contacted the director of the Social Health Protection Initiative Dr Riaz Tanoli, he said that Advisor to the Health Minister, Dr Riaz Anwar, has written a letter to the Chairman of State Life. In the letter, he stated that the government would settle the outstanding dues of Rs. 6 billion in the coming week and has requested them to resume treatment for patients under the programme.

However, State Life has assured the Advisor to the Health Minister that it will resume treatment for patients under the Health Card Plus programme. The company has not yet issued written instructions to its staff, but it is expected that these instructions will be issued by tomorrow.

He further stated that the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, and Advisor to the Health Minister are actively working to expedite the payment of the outstanding dues to State Life, and State Life has been very cooperative in this regard. The financial crisis is significant and extends beyond just the provincial government. He added that he hopes once the federal government allocates funds to the provincial government, they will be able to settle the outstanding dues to State Life next week.