Delay in refunds: Hospitals find it difficult to continue scheme

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 26

The insurance company engaged by the state government for the purpose of running the Bhagat Pooran Singh Sehat Bima Yojna (BPSSBY) has failed in timely reimbursement of the expenses to government hospitals here. As a result, these hospitals are finding it difficult to continue the scheme.

With over 150 BPSSBY card holders admitted at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital associated with Government Medical College, an amount of around Rs 35 lakh is pending towards their insurance reimbursement. The college had yesterday received a payment of Rs 15 lakh after which it managed to pay up the firms from which it had been buying surgical goods, medicines and implants for the patients.

“The hospital does not have a corpus fund to make payments for goods purchased for the beneficiaries of the scheme. If we fail to make payments in time, these firms will stop the supplies. Timely refunds are necessary to continue the scheme.”

The hospital had started accepting the BPSSBY patients on May 5 this year after the Amritsar Tribune had highlighted the issue. In the past two and a half months, it has helped beneficiaries to avail themselves of the benefits amounting to around Rs 60 lakh.

With most of the civil hospitals in other districts also referring patients to the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital these days, the bed occupancy has increased. “At any given time, we have over 100 patients covered by the scheme admitted to the wards for various illnesses,” said an official.

The officials said the charges refunded by the insurance company for various treatments, investigations and surgical procedures were too low. “No wonder, private hospitals are not interested in providing services to beneficiaries of the scheme. We, too, are finding it difficult to provide the required care at this cost,” said a senior official of the college.