Talks fail, IMA Karnal not to examine Ayushman cardholders from today

Parveen Arora

Karnal, June 30

With the meeting between the district health authorities and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Karnal unit remaining inconclusive on Sunday, IMA Karnal is firm on its stand of not attending to Ayushman cardholders from July 1.

They are demanding the immediate release of over Rs 15 crore in payments owed to private hospitals in the district. Additionally, they are asking for a specific timeframe for the implementation of their remaining demands, including the non-rejection and non-deduction of pre-approved cases.

Tough to run hospitals

40 hospitals in the district have not been paid their bills for Ayushman cardholders, making it difficult to operate hospitals. —Dr Rohit Sadana, IMA Karnal chief

Dr Rohit Sadana, president of the IMA Karnal unit, said that it has become difficult to run hospitals due to a shortage of funds, which have been withheld by the state health authorities for a long time. “Nearly 40 hospitals in the district have not been paid their bills for Ayushman cardholders, making it difficult to operate hospitals. We have already requested the authorities to release our bills, but to no avail so far,” he added.

Dr Rajat Mimani, Ayushman representative of private hospitals in Karnal, said a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Saroj at the Civil Surgeon’s office where the IMA was assured that funds would be released within a month. However, similar assurances have been given in the past, making the IMA decide not to attend to Ayushman cardholders from July 1.

“We have requested the state health authorities to release our bills immediately as the backlog is piling up. If the government releases our bills without delay and provides us with a deadline to implement other demands, we will happily run the scheme,” Mimani added.

He emphasised that they are not against the government scheme, but the government’s delay in payments has forced them to take this stand.

Last week, the IMA Karnal unit had handed over a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Karnal, Uttam Singh, apprising him of their demands and threatening not to attend to Ayushman cardholders from July 1.