New Delhi: the Indian medical association (Ima), Haryana, to suspend Ayushman Bharat The scheme services across the state since February 3, citing pending government refunds amounting to Rs 400 crore.
“All the empaneled hospitals of Haryana have approached us again to act on your behalf and inform you that if the following demands are not met soon, they will be forced to suspend Ayushman services from February 3, 2025,” a statement released by the read association.
About 1,300 hospitals in Haryana, including 600 private facilities, are empaneled under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Introduced by the Narendra Modi government in 2018, the scheme provides free health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually and currently benefits around 1.2 million people in the state.
The scheme, which covers anything between routine tests to surgeries, can be availed by families with annual income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh, and the elderly, among other criteria.
Dr. Mahavir Jain, president of IMA (Haryana), said the refunds to private hospitals They had been pending for months. “Our payments must be released immediately as it is extremely difficult for doctors to run hospitals without funds. Around Rs 400 crore is pending. These medical bills are already deducted by the hospitals. They are not receiving the minimum,” said Dr. Jain.
The organization presented seven demands indicating that:
1. Everyone pending installments must be paid immediately.
2. A system should be developed that no deductions should be made once PPD has given approval. Give pre-approval after confirming all documents, but there should be no deductions once approval is done.
3. As the Hon’ble Chief Minister is already supporting this scheme, adequate allocation of (almost 2000 crores per year) should be made for this scheme separately.
4. TMS 2 Portal is in big mess and headache for all members. It needs to be rectified immediately and until then we need to move back to TMS 1.
5. The cash consent form was recently retired. Hon’ble CM Haryana had expressed agreement to restore it. It should be restored immediately.
6. Many members also have pending TMS 1 payments. After making a list, a hospital agreement of such payments must be made.
7. Interest on delayed payments should be calculated as per MoU and paid to all concerned hospitals.
Association members said the matter was raised with chief minister Nayab Singh Saini in a meeting earlier this month and he had ordered immediate release of funds, but the hospitals received a fraction of the pending dues.
“It is very unfortunate that even after 15 days have passed, our members have not received any significant amount and even the amounts received have large unjustified deductions. This is worrying and has caused great distress to our members,” the statement added. .