Personal hospitals in Andhra Pradesh have stopped cashless remedy to beneath poverty line (BPL) sufferers beneath the Dr NTR Vaidya Seva (popularly often called Aarogyasri) — the state authorities’s flagship healthcare scheme — over non-clearance of almost ₹3,000-crore dues pending for almost two years, folks conversant in the matter mentioned.
The non-public hospitals have additionally stopped offering subsidised remedy to state authorities workers beneath the Workers’ Well being Scheme (EHS), a consultant of the AP Hospitals Affiliation mentioned.
“We’ve stopped outpatient companies for the Aarogyasri sufferers and state authorities workers from Monday. Nonetheless, we’re entertaining emergency sufferers. If the federal government doesn’t come out with an answer, we will cease emergency companies as nicely from January 26,” the consultant mentioned, requesting anonymity.
As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the hospitals, the payments are purported to be cleared inside 45 days. “The scope of the remedy beneath Arogyasri was enhanced within the final 5 years and the variety of procedures lined has risen from 900 to three,200. This has prompted an enormous burden on the non-public hospitals,” he mentioned.
There are 2,700 non-public hospitals within the state and 20% of them are speciality hospitals offering specialised remedy to the sufferers. These non-public hospital managements are discovering it troublesome to run the hospitals attributable to non-payment of dues by the federal government on time, the official mentioned.
“The variety of sufferers getting remedy beneath the Arogyasri scheme has elevated from 12 lakh (1.2 million) in 2022-23 to 13.90 lakh (1.39 million) in 2023-24. However the price range beneath the scheme remained the identical at ₹3,350 crore. This has resulted in a backlog of cost,” he defined.
He identified that the earlier YSR Congress Occasion (YSRCP) authorities had saved the dues pending for a number of months. “Even the TDP-led coalition authorities, which took over in June final yr, has not cleared the dues, which have mounted to greater than ₹3,000 crore attributable to which hospitals are unavailable maintain companies,” the affiliation consultant mentioned.
An official of the state well being division mentioned that well being minister Satyakumar Yadav would name the affiliation leaders for talks in a day or two to resolve the difficulty. “The federal government will persuade them to renew their companies,” he mentioned.
In Could 2024, the Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospitals Affiliation (ASHA) halted the remedy for the poor folks beneath Aarogyasri and the EHS companies, in protest towards the pending dues from the federal government.
Andhra Pradesh Congress committee president YS Sharmila lashed out on the Chandrababu Naidu authorities for not clearing the pending dues to the non-public hospitals, thereby killing the spirit of Aarogyasri scheme which was launched by former Congress chief minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
“The detached angle of the federal government in clearing the dues to the tune of ₹3,000 crore to the community of personal hospitals is nothing however a conspiracy to wind up the scheme thereby denying free remedy to the poor folks,” Sharmila criticised in a submit on X.
