Under the leadership of caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) caretaker administration recently met a critical cabinet meeting and agreed to limit the free healthcare services accessible under the Health Card scheme.
Cabinet members, the chief secretary, an auxiliary chief secretary, and administrative secretaries attended this meeting.
Among the critical issues highlighted was the Health Card system.
In a press conference, Advisor to the Chief Minister on Health Riaz Anwar highlighted that full advantages of the scheme will henceforth be reserved entirely for participants of the Benazir Income Support Programme due to the initiative’s rising costs.
The scheme’s costs has increased from Rs30 billion to Rs39 billion. During the discussion, a proposal was made to stop the programme entirely.
Following that, the cabinet approved a set of amendments for the Health Card concept.
Individuals with an income of up to Rs37,000 will be obliged to cover 25% of their medical bills under these new regulations.
This contribution would be collected using Benazir Income Support Programme data, ensuring that people with greater earnings contribute to their healthcare costs.
The poor and underprivileged will continue to benefit from free services; however, everyone will be able to benefit from free services at the emergency department.
It was also made clear that the Health Card programme will not be phased out; rather, it will continue to serve the needy.
Because of budgetary constraints, KP’s Health Card programme expenses have increased from Rs30 billion to Rs39 billion.
