ABPMJAY bills reach Rs 200 crore in Haryana; hospitals shut down operations

Angry over the delay in reimbursement of their bills, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Haryana has suspended services provided under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for now. It will review the decision on July 5 to decide on the next course of action.

The decision, announced on National Doctors Day, leaves several patients waiting for treatment under the Ayushman Bharat programme in the lurch.

Dr. Ajay Mahajan, President, IMA (Haryana), expressed his displeasure over the delay in payment for treatments provided under the Aysuhman scheme by private doctors across the state.

“Our payments should be released immediately as it is very difficult for doctors to run hospitals without money. Some payments have been cleared but around Rs 200 crore are still pending. The disbursement of payments is slow and due to this, new bills are piling up in the department,” said Dr Mahajan.

He said they had suspended work to reduce the backlog, but otherwise the government was satisfied with almost 90 percent of their demands.

“We have received a written commitment from ACS Health to our demands, including timely payment. Health Minister Dr Kamal Gupta is also personally committed to our demands,” he added.

Regarding the emergency cases, Dr Mahajan said the IMA has decided to first stabilise the condition of the emergency patients and later refer them to government facilities.

The IMA stressed that each private hospital receives only 10 to 15 percent of its outstanding amount and is therefore struggling with a lack of funding.

IMA Karnal president Dr Rohit Sadana said the IMA Haryana will review the next course of action on July 5. “No private hospital will treat Ayushman card holders till July 5,” Dr Sadana said. Tribune India