Govt keen on bringing down healthcare costs says CM N Chandrababu Naidu

Guntur : Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the expensive medical treatment at the corporate and private hospitals in the State and opined that medical treatment should be affordable and within the reach of common man.

He pointed out that middle class and poor families were selling their properties for medical treatment.

Naidu said that the State government was contemplating ways to reduce healthcare costs, especially at a time when poor people are burdened with crushing debt to afford medical treatment.

Naidu inaugurated KIMS Sikhara Hospitals at Mangaldas Nagar here. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister remarked that while advancements in the medical field were commendable, the rising costs of treatment were leaving some patients with exorbitant bills.

“We are thinking about how to slash medical costs. Today, all poor families are getting crushed under medical expenses. Sometimes, I feel bad. On the one hand, we are elated at the progress being made in the medical field but at times patients are incurring medical bills ranging up to Rs 60 lakh, Rs 70 lakh, and even Rs 1 crore,” he said addressing the audience.

Underscoring that many people are being compelled to sell their assets to afford healthcare, Naidu said survivors face a bleak future after such exorbitant expenditure, while the families of patients who survive are left financially devastated.

Criticising corporate hospitals, the TDP supremo observed that being mindful of society at large should be just as important as managing or running their healthcare facilities. At a time when wearable health technology is available to monitor patients’ health, he said there was no need for hospitals to admit patients for every “silly reason”, impose hefty room charges and burden them financially.

“Any disease can be monitored and mechanisms are being developed to transfer patients to hospitals when necessary. In the future, patients should be monitored wherever they are, brought to the hospital only when needed and operated on when required. Only then will costs decrease,” he noted.

The Chief Minister said these goals can be achieved through the efficient use of emerging technologies such as real-time data, the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables and more. Emphasising the importance of Artificial Intelligence, Naidu said this futuristic technology was helping doctors during operations, enabling ordinary doctors to perform extraordinary surgeries.

Likewise, he stated that preventive healthcare was the responsibility of medical professionals and called for greater public awareness and real-time monitoring. Furthermore, he emphasised the need to identify 90 per cent of the prevalent diseases in AP to develop a plan of action for their prevention.

Minister for Medical and Health Y Satya Kumar Yadav requested the Chief Minister to consider a proposal to give a job on outsourced basis to the family members of brain dead who came forward to donate organs.

Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana, Minister for Endowments Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, Minister for Agriculture K Atchannaidu, MLAs B Ramanjaneyulu, Md Naseer Ahmed and KIMS Sikhara Hospitals chairman Dr B Bhaskara Rao were among those who participated in the meeting.