It was a regular forward to the inbox of my mail that set me thinking. The mail was about a 11 year old who had contracted a rare disease which was to be met with a treatment that was expensive. The reading of this mail took me to the day I had the occasion to interact with some who had set up a date with the Alzheimer's. These gutsy people too did not complain about they having been chosen for the date but were looking at avenues to meet the costs of the treatment.
Move over and we find NGOs as well as individuals who are willingly to spare the extra penny or make over the rupee by cutting on some comfort to a genuine needy person. A visit to most hospitals treating the reviled cancer shows that blocks have come up on the generosity of such individuals.
The two scenarios make it clear that the link of connecting the needy to the willing is not definitely established in all cases. Some are fortunate for the media to assist in their hour of crisis while others face times of adversity by grinning and grimacing at the situations that confront them. The email prodding me to sign a petition to the Health Minister was a simple click away but several minutes of ruminating over and an inadvertent click later, I found that we should be aspiring for a better solution than to expect the Government to intervene in every matter.
Imagine a Health Bank that would attract donations which would entitle the donor to a 100% tax rebate. This Bank would attract the generous to donate their mite. An initial contribution of a day's salary by all Government servants, politicos and persons enrolled to the New Pension Scheme would ensure that the corpus is large enough to set the Bank rolling.
The corpus so derived could be invested in gilt bonds to ensure that the investments are inflation immune. The income of such Health Bank needs to be exempted from taxes and hence the Bank should be a 100% subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India. This would also ensure that the management is in secure hands and at no time the same would be subject matter of scams. In addition to the statutory audits of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the donors may also audit by appointing an auditor or more to ensure that the annual reports are free and fair.
The pooling of the funds and its management being framed, the moot question would be how would one determine the donee who would be entitled to the support or the extent to which they would be entitled. This needs the active support of the medical fraternity. They would require to identify the needy and also mention the extent of the rebate they are willing to provide on the treatment. The minimum is that the professional fees are waived by the doctors and the hospital waives the ward charges. This would ensure that the cost of the medicines is picked by the Bank. The costs should be at wholesale rates which would be directly met to the manufacturer. This way the true needy person derives the benefits.
The benefits could be extended on a proportionate basis by all concerned in case wherein the patients would be able to meet a portion of the cost. This would be an alternative social security scheme in place with zero involvement of the Government. This would also revive the spirit of co-existence which is ebbing away especially in urbane India. If NGOs can inspire faith why not a Health Bank?
It would also be necessary to rope in each automobile manufacturer to provide a well equipped ambulance as part of Corporate Social Responsibility to the Health Bank which could deploy the same on need basis to all districts. The para medical staff of the Bank as well as the drivers would thus provide yeoman's service to their bretheren in need. The charges collected could meet partially the costs of maintaining the service. The remnant could be picked up by a corporate as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Is anyone listening? The above may not be the ultimate and may require lot of further fine tuning but could a beginning be made?
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