Bengaluru: The state government has defered the launch of the ambitious Universal Health Coverage Scheme for all the families of the state, called the ‘Arogya Bhagya’, by a couple of months. Earlier, it was announced that the scheme would be launched on November 1 but, so far the state government has not launched the scheme owing to some technical issues.
According to highly placed sources in the state health department, the protest by private hospitals and doctors is one of the major reasons for the postponement of the launch of the scheme. “We need to rope in private super speciality hospitals for advanced treatment for the patients. But due to the pending payments and the strikes by doctors we are not able to move fast. So, there will be a dealy in the launch of the project,” said an officer, privy to the developments.
According to the sources, another major reason for the delay in the launch of the scheme is the cancellation of a couple of tenders floated in October over patient registration. “Officers want that tender. But the government doesn’t want that tender as it is running for several hundred crores. Now the government is planning to use the Aadhar numbers for patient enrollment,” he explained.