Private Hospitals Consider Withdrawing from Ayushman Bharat Scheme Over Delayed Payments, ET HealthWorld
Ranchi: The Hospital Board of India and Jharkhand branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday warned that private hospitals across the state will stop providing services to patients under the Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana (MMJAY), also known as the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, due to inordinate delays by the govt to clear their pending bills.
In districts such as Giridih, Palamu, and Hazaribag, several hospitals have already discontinued the service, the HBI said.
Chairman of IMA-HBI (Jharkhand) Dr Anant Sinha, said, “MMJAY has served as a critical healthcare support system for poor and needy citizens, with nearly 88 per cent of the state population eligible for treatment under it.
However, over the past 10 months, private hospitals reportedly did not receive reimbursement for services provided, making it financially unsustainable for them to continue.”
While all 750 empanelled private hospitals have been affected, 212 of them have not received a single payment for nearly a year, and the remaining 538 have pending dues for the past three months totalling over Rs 140 crore.
Dr Pradeep Kumar Singh, secretary of state IMA, said, “Patients keep coming with Ayushman cards, but we have no funds to run the facilities. We are committed to helping the poor, but the govt has pushed us into a corner.
It’s becoming impossible to continue in lack of amount.” Hospitals are also struggling with objections raised by the National Anti-Fraud Unit.
State coordinator, IMA-HBI, Dr Abhishek Ramadhin, said, “We are not being told to stop treating patients, but we are not being paid either. This is unfair.”
