Lok Sabha Question No. 3200 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-06
Subject: Financial Assistance to Poor Patients
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Ajay Nishad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3200 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH DECEMBER, 2019

## FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO POOR PATIENTS

## 3200. SHRI AJAY NISHAD:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the criteria and procedure fixed for providing financial assistance to the poor patients to meet  their  medical  expenses from  the  Vivekananda  Kosh,  Rashtriya Arogya  Nidhi  and Cancer Pa tient Fund;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  financial assistance  provided  to  the  patients  from the  said  funds separately during the last three years and the current year and the number of beneficiaries, State/UT - wise;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has received complaints  regarding  delay  in taking  action  on applications received seeking assistance from the said funds and deaths of patients due to the said delay;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  the  remedial  steps  taken/proposed to  be  taken  for  immediate action  on applications received in this regard and to check unnecessary delay?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a )to(e): The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides financial assistance for treatment  of poor  patients suffering  from identified  life  threatening  diseases and  taking treatment in Government hospitals ,under the  Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) .   Ministry of Health and Family Welfare isnot implementing Vivekananda Kosh.

Under  t he  Umbrella  Scheme  of  RAN  financial  assistance is  provided to  patients belonging  to  families  living  below  State/UT -wis threshold  poverty  lines  and  who  are suffering  from  major  life  threatening  diseases/cancer/rar e  diseases,  to  receive  medical treatment  at  Government  hospitals.  Financial assistance  upto  Rs.15  lakh  is  provided  for eligible patients  in  the  form  of  'one -time  grant'  to  the  Medical  Superintendent  of  the Government  hospital  where  the  treatment  is  being  r ec ved.  The  scheme  has  three components, namely (i) Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) -to provide financial assistance to patients  suffering  from  life  threatening  diseases  other  than  Cancer,  (ii)  Health  Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF) - to provide fin ancial assistance to patients suffering from Cancer; and (iii) Scheme for financial assistance for patients suffering from specif diseases.

Common application form has been prescribed for submission of request for financ assistance under  Umb rella Scheme of RAN. The application is required to be submitted to the treating hospitals along with supporting documents regarding income and ration card recommended by the treating doctor and medical superintendent of the hospital concern On rec eipt of applications complete in all respect, financial assistance is approved period of one month. No specific complaint has been received regarding death due to delay i taking action on applications for financial assistance.

In a bid to speed up the assistance to the needy patients, r evolving  funds have been set up at 14 Government hospitals  for RAN and Rare Diseases component and 27 Regional Cancer Centres for HMCPF component. An amount upto Rs. one crore (Rs. two crore in case  of  AIIMS,  New  Delhi  in  case  of  RAN)  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  hospital  w revolving fund. Powers have been delegated to the Medical Superintendent/Director of the hospitals with revolving funds for providing treatment up to Rs. 5 lakh for eligibl e patients in each case, out of revolving fund.Only cases involving treatment beyond Rs. 5 lak hospitals with revolving fund and all the cases for financial assistance from hospit having revolving fund are  referred to Department of Health & Fam ily Welfare, Government of India for approval.

U nder the Umbrella Scheme of RAN funds are not released to States/UTs, but to the hospitals where eligible patients receive treatment. Details of funds released during last thr years are as under :

| Year                       |   Funds released (Rs. In crore) |
|----------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 2016- 17                   |                           45.84 |
| 2017- 18                   |                           52.93 |
| 2018- 19                   |                           58.85 |
| 2019- 20 (upto 30.11.2019) |                           47.67 |

Hospital - wise details of n umber of patients benefitted under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN)and Health Minister's C ancerPatients Fund (HMCPF) components of the Umbrella Scheme ofRAN during the last three years is at Annexure - I & II respectively.

| Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under RashtriyaArogyaNidhi (RAN)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under RashtriyaArogyaNidhi (RAN)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under RashtriyaArogyaNidhi (RAN)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under RashtriyaArogyaNidhi (RAN)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under RashtriyaArogyaNidhi (RAN)   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                          | Name of Hospital                                                                | 2016-17                                                                         | 2017-18                                                                         | 2018-19                                                                         |
|                                                                                 |                                                                                 | No.of Patients                                                                  | No.of Patients                                                                  | No.of Patients                                                                  |
| 1                                                                               | AIIMS, Delhi                                                                    | 642                                                                             | 1200                                                                            | 710                                                                             |
| 2                                                                               | AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar                                                             | 1                                                                               | 1                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 3                                                                               | DR. RMLH Delhi                                                                  | 50                                                                              | 6                                                                               | 7                                                                               |
| 4                                                                               | G B Pant Hospital, Delhi                                                        | 11                                                                              | 7 1                                                                             | 2 4                                                                             |
| 5                                                                               | BHU Varanasi                                                                    | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               |                                                                                 |
| 6 7                                                                             | GSMHS, Jammu GBPCH Srinagar                                                     | 3 1                                                                             | --                                                                              | -- --                                                                           |
| 8                                                                               | ILBS, Delhi                                                                     | 24                                                                              | 15                                                                              | 17                                                                              |
| 9                                                                               | IPGMER,Kolkata                                                                  | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | --                                                                              |
| 10                                                                              | KGMU, Lucknow                                                                   | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               |
| 11                                                                              | LNJP, Delhi                                                                     | 11                                                                              | 15                                                                              | 13                                                                              |
| 12                                                                              | NEIGRIHMS, Shillong                                                             |                                                                                 | --                                                                              | 3                                                                               |
| 13                                                                              | NRSMCH, Kolkata                                                                 | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | --                                                                              |
| 14                                                                              | PGIMER, Chandigarh                                                              | 81                                                                              | 31                                                                              | 33                                                                              |
| 15                                                                              | RCC, Thituvananthapuram                                                         | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | 4                                                                               |
| 16                                                                              | GTB Hospital, Delhi                                                             | 1                                                                               | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 17                                                                              | Safdarjang Hospital, Delhi                                                      | 118                                                                             | 75                                                                              | 69                                                                              |
| 18                                                                              | GMCH, Guwahati                                                                  | 5                                                                               | 1                                                                               | 3                                                                               |
| 19                                                                              | SGPGIMS,Lucknow                                                                 | 7                                                                               | 12                                                                              | 31                                                                              |
| 20                                                                              | SKIMS, Srinagar                                                                 | 25                                                                              | 50                                                                              | 61                                                                              |
| 21                                                                              | TMC, Mumbai                                                                     | --                                                                              | 3                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 22                                                                              | GMC, Jammu                                                                      | --                                                                              | 5                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 23                                                                              | IGMC, Shimla                                                                    | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 24                                                                              | IKDRC, Ahmedabad                                                                | 9                                                                               | 5                                                                               | 4                                                                               |
| 25                                                                              | KEM, Mumbai                                                                     | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 26                                                                              | MMABM, Anantnag                                                                 | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               |
| 27                                                                              | NITRD, Delhi                                                                    | 2                                                                               | --                                                                              | --                                                                              |
| 28                                                                              | SCTIMST, Thiruvananthapuram                                                     | 34                                                                              | 32                                                                              | 66                                                                              |
| 29                                                                              | Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai                                                 | --                                                                              | 4                                                                               | 2                                                                               |
| 30                                                                              | Delhi state Cancer Institute                                                    | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 31                                                                              | Dist. Hospital, Kozhencherry                                                    | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 32                                                                              | BRAM, Raipur                                                                    | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 33                                                                              | Govt. Hospital, Ernakulam                                                       | --                                                                              | 3                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 34                                                                              | GMC, Kottayyam                                                                  | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               | 1                                                                               |
| 35                                                                              | GMC, Thiruvananthapuram                                                         | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               | --                                                                              |
| 36                                                                              | HBCH&RC, Vishakhapatnam                                                         | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               | 2                                                                               |
|                                                                                 | KNMH, Allahabad                                                                 | --                                                                              | 3                                                                               | 3                                                                               |
| 37                                                                              |                                                                                 |                                                                                 |                                                                                 |                                                                                 |
| 39                                                                              | PCTH&RC, Puducherry                                                             | --                                                                              | 12                                                                              | 22                                                                              |
| 40                                                                              | PGIMS, Rohtak                                                                   | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               | --                                                                              |
|                                                                                 |                                                                                 | --                                                                              |                                                                                 | --                                                                              |
| 41                                                                              | SAT, Thiruvananthapuram                                                         | --                                                                              | 1 1                                                                             | --                                                                              |
| 42 43                                                                           | SMS, Jaipur SVIMS, Tirupati                                                     | --                                                                              | 10                                                                              | 20                                                                              |
| 44                                                                              | RMLIMS, Lucknow                                                                 | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               |
| 45                                                                              | JMMC, Aligarh                                                                   | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | 1                                                                               |
| 46                                                                              | RIMS, Ranchi                                                                    | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | 1 --                                                                            |
| 47 48                                                                           | JIPMER, Puducherry NIMHANS, Bengaluru                                           | 42 51                                                                           | -- --                                                                           | --                                                                              |
| 49                                                                              | Civil Hospital, Aizawl                                                          | --                                                                              | --                                                                              | 2                                                                               |

## Annexure - II

| Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF)   | Hospital-wise details of patients benefitted under Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF)   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                              | Name of Hospital                                                                                    | 2016-17 No.of                                                                                       | 2017-18 No.of                                                                                       | 2018-19 No.of                                                                                       |
| 1                                                                                                   | Cancer Hospital, Tripura, Agartala                                                                  | Patients 259                                                                                        | Patients -                                                                                          | Patients -                                                                                          |
| 2                                                                                                   | Cancer Hospital& Research centre, Gwalior,MP                                                        | 478                                                                                                 | 1447                                                                                                | 534                                                                                                 |
| 3                                                                                                   | Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata,                                                    | 235                                                                                                 | 762                                                                                                 | 770                                                                                                 |
| 4                                                                                                   | Civil Hospital, Aizawl, Mizoram                                                                     | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 5                                                                                                   | Dr.B.B.Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam.                                                           | 919                                                                                                 | 1116                                                                                                | -                                                                                                   |
| 6                                                                                                   | AIIMS, New Delhi.                                                                                   | 265                                                                                                 | 59                                                                                                  | 123                                                                                                 |
| 7                                                                                                   | AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar                                                                                 | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 8                                                                                                   | Kamala Nehru Memorial Hospital, Prayagraj, UP                                                       | 502                                                                                                 | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 9                                                                                                   | Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology,Bangalore, Karnataka                                          | 26                                                                                                  | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 10                                                                                                  | Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education& Research, Chandigarh                                  | 6                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   |
| 11                                                                                                  | Puducherry Regional Cancer Society, JIPMER, Puducherry                                              | 10                                                                                                  | 12                                                                                                  | 18                                                                                                  |
| 12                                                                                                  | Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram Kerala                                                   | -                                                                                                   | 95                                                                                                  | 86                                                                                                  |
| 13                                                                                                  | Regional Cancer Control Society, Shimla, HP                                                         | 318                                                                                                 | 388                                                                                                 | 165                                                                                                 |
| 14                                                                                                  | Regional Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu                                         | 44                                                                                                  | 51                                                                                                  | 25                                                                                                  |
| 15                                                                                                  | Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences., Lucknow, UP                             | 2                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 16                                                                                                  | Sher-I Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar.                                      | 20                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   | 20                                                                                                  |
| 17                                                                                                  | Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra                                                         | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |
| 18                                                                                                  | GMC, Jammu                                                                                          | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 19                                                                                                  | GSMHS, Srinagar                                                                                     | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 20                                                                                                  | NRSMCH, Kolkata                                                                                     | 6                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 21                                                                                                  | Dr.RML Hospital, Delhi                                                                              | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 22                                                                                                  | Safdarjang Hospital, Delhi                                                                          | 8                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 23                                                                                                  | GMC, Guwahati                                                                                       | 3                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 24                                                                                                  | NIMS, Hyderabad                                                                                     | 1                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 25                                                                                                  | SCTIMST, Thiruvananthapuram                                                                         | 2                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   | -                                                                                                   |
| 26                                                                                                  | HomiBhabha, Vishakapatnam                                                                           | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 6                                                                                                   |
| 27                                                                                                  | Cancer Hospital, Aurangabad                                                                         | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 28                                                                                                  | SSPH, NOIDA, UP                                                                                     | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 29                                                                                                  | NEIGRIHMS, Shillong                                                                                 | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 30                                                                                                  | BHU, Varanasi                                                                                       | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 31                                                                                                  | SVIMS, Tirupati                                                                                     | --                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                  | 11                                                                                                  |