Healthcare News

State fails to pay Rs 80 cr for healthcare schemes : The Tribune India

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Tribune News Service

Ambika Sharma

Solan, January 16

Two flagship schemes of the Centre and the state government —Ayushman Bharat (AB) and Mukhya Mantri Himachal Health Care Yojana (HIMCARE) — are ailing due to the non-payment of around Rs 80 crore to private clinics and Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) at government hospitals for the past several months.

Pvt clinics reluctant to continue services

  • The state has to pay Rs 80 crore as part of its share under the Ayushman Bharat (AB) scheme and the Mukhya Mantri Himachal Health Care Yojna (HIMCARE)
  • The state pays 10 per cent for the AB following which the Centre pools in the remaining 90 per cent; HIMCARE is totally funded by the state
  • Private clinics are now reluctant to provide services under the two schemes due to the delay in their payment worth crores

The state pays 10 per cent of its share for the AB following which the Centre pools in the remaining 90 per cent. HIMCARE is totally funded by the state government where RKS and private hospitals empanelled under the scheme receive funds for providing cashless services.

A Solan-based private doctor said he was awaiting a payment of Rs 1.5 crore for providing medical services under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for over one year and under HIMCARE for around eight months.

A hospital that got around 50 per cent of its work under the two schemes was awaiting a payment of Rs 40 lakh.

Private clinics are now reluctant to provide services under the two schemes due to the delay in their payment worth crores.

The Una-faction of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has given the state government time till January 19 to clear the dues failing which the private hospitals will stop providing these services.

“Private hospitals have been burdened with expenditure on drugs, implants, staff salaries etc. The non-reimbursement of their bills for a year has made it difficult to sustain the two schemes any further,” said another private doctor.

Dr RK Sood, IMA’s Solan representative, echoed similar sentiments and said they would be forced to stop providing health services under the two schemes soon, if their pending dues were not paid.

State nodal officer for the two schemes Devender said Rs 80 crore was pending in lieu of state’s share under these schemes. Once the state paid its 10 per cent share under the AB, the Centre would release its 90 per cent share. He said a request had been sent to the state government to release the pending amount.

Dr Vinay Mahajan, IMA, Himachal, said a request would be made to the state government to accord priority to the reimbursement of the amount due under the two schemes so that the poor could continue to get cashless treatment and the hospitals also got their due.



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