IMA threatens to suspend Ayushman Bharat services in Haryana over delayed reimbursements

The Haryana Chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has threatened to stop providing treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme from February 3, due to delayed reimbursements from the state government. Around 600 private hospitals in the state have accused the health authorities of failing to make payments worth around Rs 400 crore, which have been pending for several months.

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According to Dr Mahavir Jain, president of IMA (Haryana), every empanelled private hospital has only received 10 to 15 per cent of the reimbursement bills raised with the government. Jain emphasised that hospitals cannot operate without funds, and the delayed payments have made it challenging for them to sustain themselves.

“Our payments should be released immediately as it is exceedingly difficult for doctors to operate hospitals without funds. The hospitals already discount the medical bills. The government and patients expect world class treatment but how will the hospitals survive if they do not even get the bare minimum?” he said.

It may be noted that the association has already shot a warning letter to the health authorities. Health Minister Arti Singh Rao said the government was already in the process of releasing the reimbursement at the earliest.

“Any discrepancies between the department and hospitals over payment will be resolved soon,” said Rao. Association members said the matter was raised with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini earlier this month, who had ordered the immediate release of funds, but hospitals received only a fraction of the pending dues.

Around 1,300 hospitals in the state are empanelled with Ayushman Bharat, and 600 of them are private facilities. These include 60 hospitals of the state’s medical hub Gurugram. The Ayushman Bharat scheme covers anything between routine tests to surgeries, and can be availed by families with annual incomes of less than Rs 2.5 lakh, and the elderly, among other criteria. Every hospital raises a request for reimbursement after treating a patient covered under the scheme. The request is made on an online portal and is supposed to be cleared by the state government, which then reimburses the hospital.

“The majority of beneficiaries of this scheme, who would as a practice go to government hospitals in case of regular ailments, now come to private hospitals. We are expected to provide the best of treatment and run all the necessary tests. However, our bills are pending with the government for months now, and it has become impossible to run hospitals without the necessary fund. The situation is worse for a 70-bed facility like ours. We have run in debts because of the situation,” said one of the IMA embers from Gurugram.