The public health sector does not have much to cheer in the 2020-21 State Budget.
There are no major announcements for the sector this year and even the statement by Finance Minister T.M. THomas Isaac that the benefits of the old Karunya scheme [Karunya Benevolent Fund (KBF)] will continue to be available for families who are outside the integrated health insurance scheme Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati (KASP) and not included in any other health schemes is fraught with confusion.
Last year, the KBF was integrated into the KASP, which offers an annual health insurance cover of ₹5 lakh to ₹47 lakh families. Following the furore over the “stopping” of the scheme, the government had later announced that applications for KBF benefits would continue to be accepted till March 31 this year.
The government already owes the KBF arrears payment of at least ₹120-150 crore to government hospitals apart from hundreds of KBF applications that are pending.
When Dr. Isaac mentions that the KBF, which used to be run by the Department of Lotteries, would continue alongside the KASP, he fails to mention whether he has made any allocation for the scheme this year or which department — Lotteries or Finance — will run the scheme.
“The announcement that the KBF will continue to be run seems to have been made with an eye on the upcoming local body elections,” a public health expert said.
Cancer drugs
Dr. Isaac announced that the Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP) was increasing its facilities for in-house drug production and that it would be able to provide immunosuppressant drugs and cancer drugs at reduced prices.
The Minister spoke about creating a comprehensive support system with the help of modern technology and Artificial Intelligence to monitor elderly patients.
Though he said that pilot projects would be launched at Kannur and Alappuzha and allocated ₹10 crore for the same, no details were given out in his speech.
