Maha MPJAY patients will soon avail free treatment at GMCH

Patients registered under the Maharashtra government's flagship health scheme will soon be able to avail free treatment at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), state Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane said Monday.

The Goa government will soon sign a pact with its Maharashtra counterpart to empanel the state-run GMCH under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), the popular health scheme of the Maharashtra government.

Rane said card-holders under the MPJAY will become eligible to avail free medical treatment at the GMCH once the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed.

The GMCH, located near Panaji, is extensively used by the residents of neighbouring Sindhudurg district in coastal Maharashtra.

Since January this year, the Goa government started charging patients who are not domicile of Goa, as the hospital was getting overloaded with admissions and referrals from outside the coastal state, mainly from Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The minister said the details of the proposed MoU were finalised through a video-conferencing between him and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis last week.

"There were some issues which were needed to be discussed. They have been sorted out during discussions with the Maharashtra CM", Rane said.

MPJAY is mainly aimed at improving access of BPL families to quality medical care for identified speciality services requiring hospitalisation for surgeries and therapies or consultations through an identified Network of health care providers.