BMC to Roll Out Cashless Hospitalization Under Integrated Healthcare Scheme

The IPHSA will connect patients visiting BMC’s super-specialty and suburban hospitals with various central and state government aid and insurance schemes, allowing them to access services without direct payment.

More than three decades after introducing user fees in public hospitals, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to make hospitalisation a “cashless experience” for patients through a new system—the Integrated Patients Healthcare Scheme Assistance System (IPHSA).

The IPHSA will connect patients visiting BMC’s super-specialty and suburban hospitals with various central and state government aid and insurance schemes, allowing them to access services without direct payment. The civic body expects this system to significantly reduce patients’ out-of-pocket expenses for surgeries, scans, and medicines while potentially increasing its inpatient care collection tenfold from the current ₹100 crore annually.

Last week, BMC invited tenders seeking one or more agencies to operate IPHSA across the city’s four healthcare zones. The need for such a system was identified during internal discussions within the public health department. “Public hospitals in southern states apply and get reimbursements under various state and union government schemes. With IPHSA, we too can seek such funding for our patients,” said a civic official.

According to another senior civic official, the system will ensure that “patients won’t have to pay for any surgery, scans, or post-operative medicines.” He explained that even schemes like the Employees' Insurance Scheme (ESIC) provide additional benefits such as free medicines, but many beneficiaries remain unaware. “IPHSA could help patients in this regard,” the official added.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sharad Ughade said, “The IPHSA system will coordinate between the hospital administration and the patients. The aim of using the system is to reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure of the patients for healthcare.”

The contractor or agency chosen to operate the system will be compensated with a commission for every approved case. The initiative also aligns with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s recent announcement on revising treatment ceilings under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJY).

In a press statement, BMC noted, “This system will enable civic hospitals to effectively implement all the health schemes of the central and state governments. Also, a large amount of funds will be available to strengthen the civic healthcare system.”

However, health economist Dr Ravi Duggal questioned the approach. “Why should there be a mechanism to help people avail of government schemes? Such help should be a part of the system anyway,” he said.

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