Bhubaneswar, Apr 29 (PTI) Around 40,000 patients a month get treatment in super-speciality and tertiary care private hospitals empanelled under the Odisha government's universal healthcare scheme, according to an official release issued on Friday.

Speaking at a governing body meeting of the State Health Assurance Society (SHAS), Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana should be made more facilitating and foolproof for patients.

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"Major empanelled hospitals should have help desks for patients under the scheme as it has enhanced access of people to tertiary care in private hospitals," he said.

The CS asked the labour commissioner to prepare a list of states that had a significant number of Odia workers so that steps could be initiated for providing them healthcare services there under the scheme, according to the official release.

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Mohapatra directed officials to expedite the disposal of claims from private hospitals so that people do not have to face any problem for their treatment outside Odisha.

A monthly average of around 40,000 patients took super-speciality and tertiary treatment in private hospitals empanelled under the scheme and the government paid around Rs 90 crore per month to the health facilities, the release said.

It also stated that 1.97 lakh claims worth Rs 384 crore by the private hospitals were settled by the government in 2021-22.

All major super-speciality hospitals in Odisha were included and around 1,592 clinical packages were encompassed in the scheme, the release said.

As many as 328 private hospitals in Odisha and 65 in 15 other states were empanelled under the BSKY scheme.

SHAS chief executive Shalini Pandit said around 96.5 lakh eligible households were identified under the scheme and about 98 per cent of them were provided smart health cards for cashless treatment in the hospitals.

Under the BSKY, families having the smart health card can avail cashless treatment at any empanelled private hospital within or outside the state.

The state government bears the cost of healthcare services up to the annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family and additional Rs 5 lakh for women after the initial limit is exhausted.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)