IMA Thane condemns rejection of deceased doctor's PMGKY claim

The Indian Medical Association's Thane unit on Tuesday took strong objection to the Maharashtra government's move of rejecting the insurance claim of a private doctor from Kalyan who identified and attended to COVID-19 patients and dies of the infection.

The Indian Medical Association's Thane unit on Tuesday took strong objection to the Maharashtra government's move of rejecting the insurance claim of a private doctor from Kalyan who identified and attended to COVID-19 patients and dies of the infection. The insurance claim of the deceased doctor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) was rejected last week, IMA's Thane unit chief Dr Santosh Kadam said.

The joint director of health services wrote to the Kalyan Dombivili Municipal Corporation's medical officer of health stating that the doctor, who died in July, had not served at a dedicated COVID-19 hospital or any of the care facilities approved by the state government, he said. Doctors serving at COVID-19 hospitals and dedicated care facilities get a cover of Rs 50 lakh in the event of their death due to the infection.

Following the state government's appeal, private practitioners have taken up the responsibility of serving COVID-19 patients and hence, they should also be treated as "COVID warriors" and get the cover, Dr Kadam said. Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan Dr Shrikant Shinde had also raised the issue of insurance cover to private doctors, who are a part of COVID-19 prevention, he said.