Good news. I Envy Pune Seniors. Free service Includes radiography - fantastic. To avail these free services, we can't get pregnant but without doing anything one can become a senior citizen.
Many of my teaser comments will be understood only after you read the text of the message forwarded. But that's the purpose of a teaser, don't you agree?
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Free med tests for senior citizens, pregnant women
Umesh Isalkar | TNN | Updated: Nov 15, 2017, 00:12 IST
Pune: Senior citizens and pregnant women residing within the civic limits will be able to avail of diagnostic services free of cost at PMC-run hospitals within the next two months.
The benefits of the free-of-cost pathology and radiology services will be granted to all of them, irrespective of their socio-economic background.
"The only condition is that the individual has to be a resident of Pune city and has valid prescription from a medical practitioner, either practising at a public or private hospital or clinic," said Sanjeev Wavare, assistant medical officer of health, PMC.
The health department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has outsourced the diagnostic work to a private service provider and the work order will be issued in the next few days.
The project will roll out by the end of January 2018.
PMC officials said the civic body will provide space, water and electricity at the hospitals and the private laboratory will bear expenses of rest of the components, including installation of diagnostic machinery and subsequent operational costs.
Besides senior citizens and pregnant women, the rest of the citizens can enjoy the benefits rates lower than those offered under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
"We have kept the rates 6% lower than the CGHS expenses. Our aim is to ensure that the maximum number of people can avail of the benefits of the diagnostic services. Prices of such services have over the years gone over the roof in the private sector," Wavare said.
Patients under the PMC's urban poor health scheme can avail of services at charges reduced further by 50%. The remaining 50% will be borne by the municipal corporation, for which a budgetary provision of Rs 2 crore has been proposed for the for 2017-18 financial year.
Health activists, however, said outsourcing of the diagnostic work to the private sector by the civic body was an inefficient way of providing services.
"There is an urgent need for standard treatment guidelines. Otherwise, the patients will be subjected to unnecessary tests to raise the number of cases, make more profits and pocket cuts," veteran health activist Anant Phadke said.
"Besides, it has to be seen how do they run the services on a long-term basis because there have been instances of charges of such services being raised at subsequent stages in the past," he added.
The city has an estimated 14 lakh people (around 40% of the city's population) living in slums. They are the people who are mostly deprived of basic medical facilities and the civic body is mainly responsible to cater to their healthcare.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/free-med-tests-for-senior-citizens-pregnant-women/articleshow/61650123.cms
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