Mukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Raahat Kosh scheme: Patients will no longer have to pay for PET scan

Now people will not have to pay for positron emission tomography (PET) scan, which is used to detect cancer. From now on, government will pay the fee to hospitals for this test.

Earlier, the patients had to pay from their own pockets even if they are registered under the ‘Mukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Raahat Kosh’ scheme. Later the state government would pay to the patients.

The test costs around ₹14,000 to patients and the patients had to make rounds to the Government Rajindra Hospital to get the bills cleared. And it used to take long to release the funds of bills to patients, which had become a cause of harassment for patients.

But now the Government Rajindra Hospital has decided to pay the fee directly to hospitals for PET scans. According to information, this move will benefit around 2,700 people.

“PET scan is one of the most advanced techniques used for detection, types and  stage of cancer. The facility of PET scan is only available at a government hospital in Faridkot,” a doctor explained.

Around 2,700 cancer patients have been registered with the Patiala health department under the Mukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Raahat Kosh scheme.

All patients have to visit government hospital in Faridkot for the test multiple times, depending on the condition of the patient. Now, the administration of Rajindra hospital has written to the government hospital in Faridkot that there is no need to take fee from cancer patients.

The bills should be sent to Rajindra hospital and the state government will directly pay the fee to the hospital.

Medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ashwani Kumar, said, “The decision will turn out to be a huge relief to the economically weaker patients. Now, they don’t have to panic and get hassled with the fee of PET scan.”