Health Insurance- Good news for common people of India. Cancer cases are increasing every year in India. The treatment of this disease is also very expensive. In such a situation, the government is making big preparations to provide relief to cancer patients. A parliamentary panel has recommended creating standardised cancer diagnostic packages with pricing under standards in regulated health insurance schemes. The committee believes that more and more people will be able to be included in this. The Rajya Sabha Petition Committee headed by Narayan Das Gupta presented its 163rd report.
The report recommended that price caps imposed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), such as the existing 30 per cent trade margin limit on 42 essential anti-cancer drugs, should also be applied to cancer vaccines, immunotherapy and oral chemotherapy.
According to a report published in the Economic Times, the committee said, “This expansion of regulatory oversight is necessary to control costs of insurers and make cancer insurance products more affordable and accessible to a wider population.” It also recommended that more cancer hospitals equipped with advanced medical technology should be built through government funding, private sector participation and public-private partnership (PPP) models.
“These facilities should be integrated with the network of insurance companies to provide cashless services to patients . Clearly designed packages will help insurance companies to bring costs under standards and pass on financial benefits to policyholders,” the panel said.
Besides, cancer screening centres should be set up for early detection of cancer. The committee also recommended policy level interventions to integrate cancer screening into major health schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and to include cancer diagnostic tests under CGHS and ECHS. The committee said this would enable optimal utilisation of private sector diagnostic infrastructure for public health purposes.