Healthcare for transgenders
In a commendably inclusive move, the Centre has brought transgender persons under the umbrella of its Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) health insurance scheme that aims to provide free healthcare to the poor and underprivileged. Significantly, in view of the transgenders’ unique need, their Rs 5-lakh policy will also cover sex reassignment surgeries. However, this step, expected to cover 4.8 lakh members of this marginalised and stigmatised community, underscores the feasibility of the PMJAY that was launched with much fanfare in 2018, promising universal healthcare.
Since then, the hollowness of the promise of cashless quality treatment has been exposed as intended beneficiaries who were assured of access to empanelled public and private hospitals have been, by and large, left to fend for themselves as they are made to pay up on one pretext or the other. The scheme is turning sour even for private hospitals and state governments as they are saddled with delayed bill payments (the stipulated time is 15 days). A few months back, Punjab private hospitals shut doors to patients till the insurance companies cleared their dues worth hundreds of crores. Unhappy with the services of two insurance companies, last December, the Punjab Government terminated its contract with them, leaving 45.60 lakh beneficiaries in the lurch. A few months later, Gujarat did the same as its PMJAY claims mounted.
The root of the challenges besetting the scheme lies in funding. In this scenario, one shudders to think what standard of care the poor Ayushman card-holders would be getting. At the other end of the spectrum is the fake Ayushman Bharat card scam in Punjab, as reported by The Tribune last month. Allegedly in connivance with some private empanelled hospitals, touts were offering PMJAY cards to ineligible people for just Rs 2,000. Also to contend with is the perennial lack of adequate number of doctors as well as medical infrastructure in many hospitals. In this context, for the transgenders particularly, the sex reassignment surgeries, requiring expertise, seem to be doomed. Surely, the PMJAY must be cured of its ills first.
