• Source:JND
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National Health Authority (NHA) has sought a report from Karnataka State Health Authority after a 72-year-old Bengaluru man allegedly died by suicide after being denied treatment under the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY senior citizen scheme, ANI reported citing sources. The man, a retired state government employee, was a cancer patient and died 15 days after the disease was discovered.

One of the family members of the victim said their kin was depressed after being denied Rs 5 lakh cover under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana senior citizen scheme. This prompted him to take the extreme step. 

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“Even though we had created an AB PM-JAY senior citizen card providing him with Rs 5 lakh annual cover, the Kidwai Memorial Institute Of Oncology (KMIO) denied the benefit, saying that the state govt orders had not arrived yet. However, it extended us a 50% discount,” TOI reported quoting the family member.

However, Dr Ravi Arjunan, director in-charge, KMIO, told the aforementioned media outlet that the state government hadn’t given its nod for the treatment under the scheme and orders for its implementation were still awaited.  

The state government also confirmed the development and sought clarification on several aspects of funding. 

The family member of the victim said Rs 20,000 were spent on initial scans and more money was required for further chemotherapy sessions. "We planned on starting two rounds of chemo at Kidwai itself. We were ready to pay, but then we lost him to suicide in just two days. I am not saying it was directly due to unavailability of the benefit, but he knew it did not come through and was already stressed," he told the publication.

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Lalithamba BV, another beneficiary of the scheme, also recalled difficulties she faced while availing treatment for her 87-year-old father. “We got the card in the first week of November 2024. However, on December 13, when my father was admitted to a private hospital, the card could not be processed. We called up the Ayushman Bharat helpline, where we were told there were no instructions from the government to use it,” she said, as per TOI.