Kidney ailments top list of treatments under Aarogyasri | Hyderabad News

Status: DoneHyderabad: Majority of the treatments provided under the Telangana govt’s flagship Rajiv Aarogyasri healthcare scheme over the past two years have been for kidney-related issues, with over 2.1 lakh such cases recorded, officials revealed on Saturday. During the same period, free medical care was extended to over 10.7 lakh people under the scheme.The scheme aims to provide accessible healthcare to families living below the poverty line (BPL). Following kidney treatments, the highest number of cases were for cancer (1,90,447), polytrauma (88,117), urinary surgeries (81,982) and general medicine (81,611).Hyderabad topped the list with over 1.25 lakh patient cases, followed by Rangareddy (68,343 cases), Nalgonda (59,071) and Medchal-Malkajgiri (52,359 cases).With the annual treatment cap doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per family, officials said the enhancement enabled access to high-cost secondary and tertiary interventions, reducing out-of-pocket expenses and allowing procedures that were previously financially out of reach.This, the officials say, brought the number of procedures covered under the scheme to 1,835, including 163 advanced treatments, and also led to an increase in package rates for 1,375 such procedures by 25%. These rates were last fixed in 2012 and have not been revised since then.“The enhancement of financial cap empowered families to seek timely and quality treatment without the burden of financial stress. It has significantly increased the scheme’s reach and utilisation, encouraging more hospitals to join the network, and brought advanced healthcare services closer to people, particularly in rural and remote areas. Above all, it has instilled a renewed sense of confidence and security among citizens, ensuring that health is no longer a privilege, but a right for every family,” P Uday Kumar, CEO, Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Care Trust (RAHCT), told TOI.With a total of 108 private hospitals also empanelled under the Aarogyasri network over the past year, as many as 461 private and corporate hospitals now offer healthcare services under the scheme across the state.“The majority of these 108 hospitals in the network are located outside Hyderabad. This has increased access to specialised care closer to patients’ homes, particularly in backward areas, and reduced travel time and delays in treatment. Moreover, the number of BPL families under the scheme also significantly increased in this time period,” said another official of the RAHCT. Meanwhile, a total of ₹1,590 to the network of hospitals over the last 20 months was also cleared.