Lok Sabha Question No. 981 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Financial Assistance to poor Patients
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Keshari Devi Patel

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 981 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 nd  July 2022

## FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO POOR PATIENTS

## 981 SRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  rolled  out  any  scheme  to  provide  financial  assistance  to poor patients;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the district wise details of number of such patients provided financial assistance during each of the last three years and the current year in Uttar Pradesh;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to simplify the process for availing benefits under the said Scheme; and
- (e) the year-wise details of amount allocated for the said scheme and the financial assistance given during each of the last three years and the current year?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(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) and Health Minister's Discretionary Grant.

Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN): Under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, one-time  financial  assistance  upto  Rs.  15  lakh  is  provided  to  patients  belonging  to  poor families  living  below  threshold  poverty  lines  and  suffering  from  major  identified  life threatening diseases for medical treatment at Government hospitals.

RAN  has  three  components,  namely  (i)  Rashtriya  Arogya  Nidhi  (RAN)  -  to  provide financial assistance to patients suffering from life threatening diseases otherthan Cancer, (ii) Health  Minister's  Cancer  Patients  Fund  (HMCPF)  -  to  provide  financial  assistance  to patients suffering from Cancer; and (iii) Scheme for financial assistance upto Rs. 20 Lakh for patients suffering from specified rare diseases.

Guidelines  regarding  implementation  of  Umbrella  Scheme  of  Rashtriya  Arogya  Nidhi  is available at https://main.mohfw.gov.in/Major-Programmes/poorpatientsfinancialassistance/rashtriya-arogya-nidhi.

Health  Minister's  Discretionary  Grant  (HMDG):  Under  Health  Minister's  Discretionary Grant (HMDG), financial assistance up to a maximum of Rs. 1.25 lakhs is provided to the poor  indigent  patients  to  defray  a  part  of  the  expenditure  on  hospitalization/treatment  in Government Hospitals for life threatening diseases covered under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) in cases where free medical facilities  are  not  available.  Only  those  having  annual family income up to Rs.1.25 lakhs and below are eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.

Financial  assistance  for  eligible  patients  is  released  to  treating  hospitals.  There  is  no State/UT-wise/District-wise  allocation  of  funds  under  RAN  scheme.  Therefore,  Statewise/District-wise data is not maintained.

In order to simplify/streamline the functioning of RAN  to  expedite  the approvals, Government has launched these schemes on the National Health Authority IT platform. It enables release of financial assistance to the eligible applicants identified online through the Government's existing database.

Details  of  funds  allocated  and  released  under Umbrella  Scheme  of  RAN  and  HMDG during the last three years and current year are as under:

(Figure in crores)

| Scheme   | 2019-20   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2021-22   | 2022-23   | 2022-23   |
|----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|          | Allocated | Released  | Allocated | Released  | Allocated | Released  | Allocated | Released  |

| HMCPF   | 50.00   | 35.67   | 50.00   | 18.10   | 40.00   | 6.83   | 40.00   | 0.78   |
|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|--------|---------|--------|
| RAN     | 50.00   | 29.25   | 50.00   | 16.26   | 40.00   | 12.87  | 40.00   | 2.42   |
| Rare    | 50.00   | 1.30    | 77.32   | 10.00   | 25.00   | 3.15   | 25.00   | -      |
| Disease |         |         |         |         |         |        |         |        |
| HMDG    | 6.00    | 3.48    | 6.00    | 1.44    | 5.00    | 1.16   | 5.00    | 0.80   |

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