Concerned over the long pending dues the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced that nearly 600 private hospitals in Haryana will stop providing services under the Ayushman Bharat scheme from February 3. The decision comes after repeated requests to the Haryana government to clear pending dues amounting to Rs 450 crore. In a letter dated January 25, the IMA Haryana informed the Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Protection Authority about the issue, stating that hospitals had only received 10-15% of their reimbursement claims.
The scheme, which helps provide free treatment to poor patients, requires hospitals to submit their claims online, which the government is supposed to process and reimburse. However, there were no deadline was fixed by the government to clear the dues. In a statement the IMA Haryana Secretary Dr. Dhirender K. Soni and other members said that although Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had promised to release the dues during a meeting on January 8, only a small amount has been paid so far, with significant cuts in the reimbursement. This has created financial challenges for the hospitals.
The IMA highlighted that delays and irregularities in payments began after the introduction of the Chirayu card in November 2022. The association listed several demands in its letter to the government, including Immediate payment of all pending dues, No deductions after pre-approvals of claims, a separate budget of Rs 2,000 crore per year for the Ayushman Bharat scheme, restoration of the cash consent form that was recently withdrawn, clearing of pending dues from the older TMS-1 system and payment of interest on delayed reimbursements as per the agreement.
The IMA warned that if these demands are not met soon, the suspension of services under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will cause significant hardship to poor patients across Haryana.
