Citing the piling up of dues from the State government, the network of hospitals offering Arogyasri has decided not to entertain cases under the prestigious health scheme starting Friday.
Besides, the Employees’ Health Scheme services will remain suspended pending clearance of bills by the government. In all, there are 232 hospitals forming part of the Arogyasri network. The State government’s dues to them had piled up to Rs 1,500 crore, according to the Telangana Network Hospitals’ Association.
The association recently gave an ultimatum, asking the government to clear the dues by August 15. In response, the State government released Rs 300 crore towards the clearing of the bills, which seems to be not acceptable to the network hospitals. The hospitals want all bills to be cleared.
The network hospitals treat over 900 ailments under Arogyasri. At least 1,000 patients have received treatment in any of the network hospitals. These hospitals will now display flexi banners intimating patients that Arogyasri services have been suspended.
Two days ago, some representatives of network hospitals staged a protest at Dharna Chowk in support of their demands, which include clearing pending dues, payment of bills through the green channel from time to time, revising the agreement with network hospitals, changing the cost of treatment and services and so on.
Telangana Network Hospitals Association (TANHA) State President, Dr. V. Rakesh, State Secretary, State Treasurer, Dr. Praveen Reddy and other took part in the protest.
Authored by Mohammed Hussain
mohammedhussain.reporter@gmail.com