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Nongovernmental organizations and a health insurance company on Wednesday launched an indemnity program for people living with HIV in the Indian state of Karnataka, The Hindu reports. The program -- the first base of its kind in India -- was launched by Population Services International, the Karnataka Network for Positive People and the insurance company Star Health and Allied Insurance (The Hindu, 8/14). The programme also is supported by USAID.
More than 250 HIV-positive people will be included in the project's initial stages, according to the Hindustan Times (Sharma, Hindustan Times, 8/13). The group wellness plan testament provide coverage worth 30,000 rupees -- or about $700 -- for HIV-positive citizenry, including 15,000 rupees -- or about $350 -- for hospitalization at the oncoming of AIDS and $350 for discourse. The insurance premium of 1,500 rupees -- or about $30 -- will be subsidised by up to 50% by the groups byzantine in the program, according to the Indian Express.
The programme was introduced in the districts of Bangalore, Bellary, Kolar, Mangalore, Mysore and Udupi. Hospitals have been told about the programme and instructed not to turn away people living with HIV, according to C.P. Udayachandran, assistant frailty president at Star Health and Allied. Although India's National AIDS Control Organisation is not directly involved in the program, NACO has started speaking with insurance companies at the national stratum to acquire a nationwide plan for people living with HIV and their families, the Express reports. NACO Director Sujatha Rao said, "We are trying to work on an insurance policy that will provide a package of services. We want to include regular healthy hoi polloi and families of those with HIV." According to Rao, a "scheme for only [HIV-positive people] would mean higher premiums" (Indian Express, 8/14).
The programme is a "milestone in the competitiveness against the discrimination of people living with HIV," Asha Ramaiah, general secretary of the Karnataka network, said, adding, "This health insurance volition allow us to get the best possible treatment and change the perception that we are a financial burden on our families." Rao added that the program is a "first whole step to breakage down fiscal barriers of HIV-positive people in accessing treatment" (Hindustan Times, 8/13).
Reprinted with kind license from hTTP://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can purview the full Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at hypertext transfer protocol://www.kaisernetwork.
Saturday 23 August 2008
Wednesday 13 August 2008
National Pharmacy Association Takes Members' Concerns To Prescription Pricing Division, UK
�NPA staff visited the Prescription Pricing Division HQ in Newcastle to relay race the continuing concerns of pharmacists around the PPD's Capacity Improvement Programme (CIP).
Raj Nutan (NPA Head of Business Development) and Stephen Fishwick (NPA Head of External Relations) were hosted by PPD Managing Director Brian Alexander and his older staff. The NPA was given assurances that the new system for processing prescription payments is at present running more smoothly, afterwards a hard start. The NPA commission was shown the Prescription Pricing Helpdesk where the majority of contractors' telephony queries ar dealt with and how the PPD responds to customer queries.
Stephen Fishwick said:
"We saw for ourselves that the new system includes human as well as automatic truth checks. Nevertheless, no organisation is infallible and the PPD, as well as pharmacists, must be vigilant in ensuring that mistakes are unbroken to a minimum. What's more, when pharmacists question payments, they have a right to expect an efficient and full response. Brian Alexander undertook at the meeting that he will personally review whether this section of the process may be made more transparent. We search forward to further dialogue on this matter."
The PPD is running a series of open years in Newcastle - 23 September, 21 October and 25 November 2008 - for customers to see how prescriptions are processed. See hTTP://www.ppa.org.uk for details.
Meanwhile, NPA members ar encouraged to continue to feed in their experiences of the CIP to pharmacybusiness@npa.co.uk. This feedback helps the NPA to present accurately the concerns of our members.
National Pharmacy Association
More info
Raj Nutan (NPA Head of Business Development) and Stephen Fishwick (NPA Head of External Relations) were hosted by PPD Managing Director Brian Alexander and his older staff. The NPA was given assurances that the new system for processing prescription payments is at present running more smoothly, afterwards a hard start. The NPA commission was shown the Prescription Pricing Helpdesk where the majority of contractors' telephony queries ar dealt with and how the PPD responds to customer queries.
Stephen Fishwick said:
"We saw for ourselves that the new system includes human as well as automatic truth checks. Nevertheless, no organisation is infallible and the PPD, as well as pharmacists, must be vigilant in ensuring that mistakes are unbroken to a minimum. What's more, when pharmacists question payments, they have a right to expect an efficient and full response. Brian Alexander undertook at the meeting that he will personally review whether this section of the process may be made more transparent. We search forward to further dialogue on this matter."
The PPD is running a series of open years in Newcastle - 23 September, 21 October and 25 November 2008 - for customers to see how prescriptions are processed. See hTTP://www.ppa.org.uk for details.
Meanwhile, NPA members ar encouraged to continue to feed in their experiences of the CIP to pharmacybusiness@npa.co.uk. This feedback helps the NPA to present accurately the concerns of our members.
National Pharmacy Association
More info
Wednesday 6 August 2008
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