ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad has suspended free treatment services for patients from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab under the health facility card program due to the non-payment of insurance claims.
The suspension primarily affects patients seeking gynecological and general surgery treatments.
Hospital sources revealed that the decision followed the failure of State Life Insurance to settle outstanding claims amounting to Rs 140 million.
As a result, patients who relied on the health facility card for free treatments will face challenges in accessing medical care.
Only those in the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and those undergoing dialysis will continue to receive free treatment under the program.
This move is expected to disproportionately impact poor and lower-middle-class residents of the two provinces, who heavily depend on the health card for essential medical procedures. While emergency operations for patients from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will continue, new admissions under the health facility card have been halted until the payment issue is resolved.
