PANAJI
The State government has issued 2.5 lakh cards under the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) and there’s another announcement now that the new applicants of DDSSY need not come personally to the centres with their documents, and the procedure is now made online.
“Those who wish to get enrolled under the DDSSY cover for the first time can now apply online. Earlier the procedure to apply or to renew the card was done manually at 18 centres across the State. From June 2021 onwards, the fresh applications for issuing new DDSSY cards would be accepted online in the State of Goa,” informed Balkrishna Pai, DDSSY consultant for the government of Goa.
The online process comes as a breather for eligible applicants who earlier had to wait in the long queues outside these centres to submit their applications.
“The eligibility criteria for new applicants are; one should have a residence certificate of five years continuous stay in Goa and an Aadhar card,” informed Pai.
He further explained, “For adding names of his/her family members in the DDSSY card, all one has to do is to produce a ration card. All of these documents can be uploaded online.”
The government has initiated this online application concept to ease the public from spending a day travelling to the centres and getting exposed to the virus, standing in queues with documents and paying Rs 200 for receiving the card. “There will be no application fee charged now,” said Pai.
Around 20,000 cardholders have benefited from the scheme annually, and their treatment at 52 hospitals was covered. The government has sanctioned the bills of their treatment expenses in the private hospitals and the amount was transferred to the hospital accounts.
“The government has de-notified private hospitals from their ‘Covid hospital’ status, and no patient is allowed to get treatment under the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) insurance cover from June 14 onwards. The hospitals and doctors were requested to display on a board at the hospital saying ‘no Covid cases are covered under DDSSY from June 14, especially those hospitals who are empanelled to treat Covid, to avoid complaints from patients,” explained Pai.
The DDSSY was availed by Covid patients who treated themselves at the private hospitals between May 5 to June 14. As the number of new positive cases is diminishing, the admissions in hospitals are also lowering and hence there is no need of making it compulsory for the private hospitals to treat Covid patients and that too under the DDSSY cover.
“Hence the DDSSY cover for Covid has been withdrawn now. However, except Covid, DDSSY will be available for all other regular ailments, diseases or procedures that were allowed under it,” informed Pai.
