Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi - Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF)

What is the Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund?

The Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF) is a component of the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), a scheme of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It provides financial assistance to poor cancer patients so they can afford treatment that would otherwise be out of reach. RAN itself is the umbrella fund that helps below-poverty-line patients suffering from major life-threatening diseases; HMCPF is the dedicated window within it for cancer patients.

According to the scheme details published on the National Government portals, HMCPF provides help of up to Rs 2,00,000 per patient, rising to Rs 5,00,000 in emergency cases, and in high-cost cases requiring Ministry approval up to a ceiling of Rs 15,00,000. The assistance is released to the treating institution rather than paid to the patient in cash. Treatment is supported at 27 designated Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs) across the country.

To speed things up, many RCCs are given a revolving fund so that assistance up to Rs 2,00,000 can be sanctioned at the hospital level, without every case having to travel to the Ministry for approval. Larger amounts are decided centrally.

Who is eligible for the Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund?

You can apply if:

• You are a cancer patient.
• You live below the poverty line, supported by an income certificate and ration card.
• You are being treated at one of the 27 designated Regional Cancer Centres.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a Central Government, State Government or PSU employee: such employees are not eligible because they have their own medical schemes.
• You are above the poverty line and cannot produce a BPL income certificate.
• You are being treated at a hospital that is not a designated Regional Cancer Centre under the scheme.

The core filter is genuine financial need combined with an active cancer diagnosis at a recognised RCC. The treating doctor and Medical Superintendent certify the medical necessity, and the income authority certifies the poverty status.

What documents are required for the fund?

How to apply for the Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund

1. Get treated at a designated Regional Cancer Centre and ask the hospital's social worker or medical records section for the HMCPF/RAN application form.
2. Have the form filled and signed by your treating doctor and the Medical Superintendent of the institution, certifying the diagnosis and the estimated treatment cost.
3. Attach the income certificate proving below-poverty-line status and an attested copy of the ration card, along with your medical records.
4. Submit the complete application to the hospital, which either sanctions assistance up to Rs 2,00,000 from its revolving fund or forwards the case to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for higher amounts.
5. On sanction, the assistance is released to the treating institution and adjusted against your treatment cost.

This is an institution-routed benefit: there is no online self-application and no cash is handed to the patient. Everything moves through the Regional Cancer Centre treating you.

What does the fund cover?

The fund supports the main lines of cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant, diagnostic procedures such as PET scans, and surgery for operable tumours, when the treating RCC certifies them as necessary. It is meant to bridge the cost of specific treatment episodes for poor patients, not to act as a lifelong medical allowance.

Help and where to go

• Apply through the Regional Cancer Centre where you are being treated — the hospital's medical social work department handles HMCPF/RAN cases.
• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi, administers the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi.

A single public helpline dedicated to HMCPF is not published; because the scheme runs entirely through hospitals, the treating Regional Cancer Centre is the correct first point of contact for eligibility, forms and status. RAN also runs sister windows for other major diseases and for treatment at central government hospitals, so patients with non-cancer conditions should ask the same hospital about the appropriate RAN component.