Aasandha Company Limited has denied rumours on social media that a patient undergoing treatment at Bengaluru's Aster CMI was denied Aasandha, causing distress to the family.

A man posted on social media recently that his mother had been denied Aasandha Insurance while undergoing treatment at Aster CMI. According to the post, the monthly hospital bills are between USD 17,000 - 20,000 and Aasandha has denied insurance completely on the ground that the treatment is available in Maldives. However, the man said no one has shared information about where exactly in Maldives the treatment can be sought.

Addressing the issue, Aashandha said that the 65-year-old patient was transferred from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia via air ambulance with zakat funds.

The patient is undergoing treatment for hypoxic inchemic encephalopathy, Aasandha said. The company said Aster CMI had sent the Aasandha request for admission to intensive rehabilitation on March 14 and all interim bills sent by the hospital during the period taken till March 18 after evaluating the patient's condition had been approved by Aasandha.

The bills for that period were USD 89,339.91 and after deducting charges not covered under Aasandha, The company approved the provision of USD 85,989.15 from the patient's bill.

Aasandha said the company had stopped giving aasandha to the patient as long-term rehabilitation from abroad was not covered under the Aasandha scheme.

"Since the patient's condition has not changed after nearly five months, we had a discussion with the family on August 14 to bring back the patient on ventilator support to continue further supportive care in the country. Since Aasandha does not cover long-term rehabilitation abroad, we also discussed relocating the patient within three days with a treatment plan that can be carried out in Maldives," Aasandha said.

Aasandha further said that the state government has allocated over MVR 1.5 million as assistance for the treatment of the victim, including Aasandha, NSPA and Zakat Funds.