Free Medical Treatment With Sehat Card Suspended in Rawalpindi
The Sehat Sahulat Card is a government health insurance programme. It will no longer provide free medical care up to Rs. 1 million at any of the 15 accredited hospitals in the Rawalpindi area.
Patients were receiving free kidney dialysis, heart surgery, cancer therapy, and treatment for other chronic health diseases listed on their health insurance cards. They have discharged all these patients early. Moreover, these hospitals have also closed their free treatment counters.
The patients’ scheduled surgeries and dialysis appointments have also been postponed. Therefore. families are protesting and requesting to continue the current medical procedures and treatments.
The medical insurance card programme provides free treatment, free medication, free surgeries, and free dialysis for heads of families earning less than Rs. 1 million. The interim Punjab government has completely stopped this.
During this time, 40,000 patients received free care. Moreover, 12,000 patients were receiving therapy and waiting for their treatments and dialyses. Now, they have cancelled all of these.
Wasiq Qayyum, a former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, vigorously challenged the decision and insisted that a provisional administration holds limited power and lacks the authority to revoke the health card, which had been established by a law approved by the Punjab Assembly.
He promised that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will reestablish free healthcare. Moreover, it would even move to the Supreme Court of Pakistan if required. He also promised to file an appeal with the Rawalpindi circuit of the Lahore High Court.
The Punjabi government introduced the Sehat Insaf Card, which is a health insurance card. It aims to offer low-income households throughout Punjab free healthcare services. Unquestionably, this was a significant step in the right approach towards assisting Pakistan’s underprivileged inhabitants in gaining access to the inexpensive healthcare they so badly need.
Therefore, the news came as a shock for residents of Rawalpindi because free medical treatment with Sehat Card suspended in Rawalpindi.
