Jaipur: The state govt approved the proposal at a Rajasthan Medicare Relief Society meeting chaired by health and medical education principal secretary Gayatri Rathore on Aug 8. The college has begun talks with insurers, including Star Health Insurance and ICICI Lombard.Officials said the arrangement will allow private insurance policyholders to receive treatment at SMS Medical College hospitals under package rates similar to those under Central Govt Health Scheme, Rajasthan Govt Health Scheme and Mukhyamantri Ayushman Arogya Yojana. These rates are much lower than those charged by private hospitals, making the model viable for insurers and patients.Around 10% of patients admitted to SMS Hospital and its attached hospitals come from outside Rajasthan. SMS Hospital alone records about 13,000 indoor registrations a month, including 1,300 to 1,500 patients from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Until now, such patients had to pay for treatment even if they had private insurance, as they were not covered under Rajasthan’s cashless schemes, including MAA Yojana and Nirogi Rajasthan Yojana.“Govt has cleared the project for hospitals attached to SMS medical college. It will be the first in the state to provide benefits to private insurance beneficiaries,” said Dr Deepak Maheshwari, principal and controller of SMS Medical College. “Patients from other states who want to take advantage of hospitals attached to SMS Medical College are welcome here. Earlier too, patients were coming from other states, but we were unable to provide them cashless treatment.”Dr Maheshwari said the facility is expected to begin within 15 days. SMS Hospital has started preparations after receiving approval.“We have created IDs for private insurance processing in our hospital. Now we are waiting for tie-ups with the firms,” said Dr Mrinal Joshi, superintendent of SMS Hospital.Officials said revenue from privately insured patients will be used to improve infrastructure, upgrade equipment and expand advanced services, including robotic surgery. SMS Medical College currently earns about Rs 23 crore a month from patients not covered under state cashless schemes.
