Goa government hospitals to charge outside patients

In a move that could hit the economically backward patients from south Maharashtra and north Karnataka regions, from December 1 hospitals in Goa will charge "nominal" fees from non-Goan patients seeking treatment and medical care in state-run health facilities.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters here on Tuesday that a committee headed by the Additional Health Secretary had been formed to work out a fee structure and to establish domicile criteria for Goan patients.

"Goans undergo a lot of difficulty because all major state-run health facilities on any given day have nearly 40 per cent patients from neighbouring states," Rane said.

The Goa Medical College and Hospital near Panaji and district hospitals in other towns like Mapusa in North Goa and Margao in South Goa often see streams of patients from the neighbouring districts like Sindhudurg in Maharashtra and Karwar in Karnataka, in addition to local patients.

The state Legislative Assembly has on several occasions discussed the need to charge outstation patients in order to ensure that state government-run health facilities are not overcrowded.

--IANS

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