Goa govt postpones decision to charge outstation patients

He said it would require a little more time to put in place the mechanism for the roll-out of the plan.

The minister, however, denied that the state government was doing a rethink on its decision to charge the patients from outside the state.

"There is no question of rethinking the decision," he said.

The health department had constituted a committee of experts, which submitted its report to the government earlier this month, recommending that the patients who are not from Goa, could be charged for availing medical facilities.

The ten-member committee headed by health secretary suggested that patients from outside Goa could be charged to some extent for the medical interventions.

As many as 447 interventions are covered under the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY), a health insurance scheme of the state government that has so far covered nearly eight lakh people in the state, approximately half the population of the state.

According to sources, the government is yet to take a final call on the fees to be charged from the outstation patients, which has delayed its implementation.

The authorities in the state-run hospitals have marked two different lines for registration and treatment, with priority being given to the locals.