ISLAMABAD: After the federal government failed to pay for the health card service, the residents of Islamabad, Azad Jammu Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan have been deprived of the healthcare facility as opposed to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa residents.

Raja Zafran Bhatti, 41, is a heart patient based in Islamabad. He recently visited Pims for medical treatment but the hospital refused him treatment free of cost, saying he would have to pay for tests and other medical facilities. The hospital management told him that the permanent address on his ID card was Islamabad and the federal government had not paid its dues to State Life, resulting in the suspension of the service for the residents of Islamabad.

“I was shocked… in 2022 I had an angioplasty at Pims…and did not pay a single rupee,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that the residents of the federal capital could not get free treatment unlike those based in KP and Punjab.

Since the start of the health care service in 2015, the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan has been dealing with it and in 2021 it won the contract again for the next three years (2022 to 2025).

Health card service suspended after centre fails to clear dues

When this correspondent contacted the health card helpline, a representative confirmed that the free treatment for residents of Islamabad, AJK, and GB had been halted because of the lack of funds. “However residents of KP and Punjab are getting the facility as their government have paid the amount,” he said.

Sehat Sahulat Programme Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Arshad said that the modified PC-1 authorisation was under process at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives which would likely be received in a week or so. Rawal Hospital head Khaqan Waheed Khawaja termed the development unfortunate. He complained that private hospitals were also empanelled but only the KP government was allowing its residents to get treatment from private hospitals, as the service in Punjab was restricted to state-owned hospitals.

“The service should be restored instantly as we have been getting hundreds of patients who are going back emptyhanded due to the suspension of the facility. It shows that a large number of people have been deprived of free medical treatment,” said Mr Khawaja, who also heads the Pakistan Awami Quwat party.

Sehat Sahulat Programme CEO Arshad Khan informed Dawn that the programme’s extension was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) till June 30, 2024, for the below-poverty population. “The modified PC-1 authorisation is under process at of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and likely to receive in a week or so, for [the] inception of service and funds allocation for clearance of State Life approved pending liabilities accordingly,” he said in a written reply.

It is worth mentioning that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif launched the health card programme on December 31, 2015, for Islamabad’s residents as the “first step towards making Pakistan a welfare state”.

He had announced that the card would be expanded to all parts of Punjab, Balochistan, AJK, Gilgit Baltistan and the former Fata region. The people of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had not benefited from the project at the time because their governments had declined to become part of the federal government’s programme to which they also had to contribute. Later, KP launched its health card namely Sehat Insaf Card.

During the PTI government, the programme was expanded across the country, apart from most districts of Sindh. In April 2022, some hospitals suspended the service as they feared that PML-N might discontinue the programme as the PTI promoted the programme as its initiative. However, the PML-N continued the programme.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024