Aarogyasri, EHS, JHS services halted in Telangana over Rs 1,200 cr pending bills

The Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA), representing hospitals with 100 to 400 beds that cater to Aarogyasri patients across districts, urged State Health Minister Damodar Raja Narsimha to address and settle the outstanding medical bills.

Hyderabad: Aarogyasri healthcare services, Employee Health Scheme (EHS) and Journalists Health Scheme (JHS) in mid-sized private hospitals in Telangana State were suspended on Friday due to pending medical bills mounting to Rs 1, 200 crore.

The members of Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA), consisting of hospitals with 100 to 400 beds and serving Arogyasri patients across districts, appealed to the State Health Minister, Damodar Raja Narsimha to intervene and clear the pending medical bills.

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“Despite performing the majority of Arogyasri work, the TANHA hospitals are not a priority for policy makers. All hospitals in districts are facing these problems. It is ironic that Aarogyasri was started under a Congress government but the same party is not addressing our concerns,” says president for TANHA, Dr V Rakesh.

The average monthly medical bills for Aarogyasri, EHS and JHS patients from all TANHA hospitals in Telangana is close to Rs 100 crore, which works out to Rs 1200 to Rs 1300 crore annually. The inordinate delay in clearing the medical bills by the State government has forced TANHA to withdraw Arogyasri, EHS and JHS services.

On Thursday, a token amount of Rs 100 crore, covering medical bills for a month, was offered to TANHA members by the State government in a meeting between Arogyasri CEO, Shiv Shankar and network hospitals on Thursday.

However, it was rejected by members of TANHA. “Whenever there is inordinate delay in release of medical bills, it has become a habit to release a token amount of Rs 100 crore and expect the private hospitals to fall in line. However, this is not reassuring for us. The State government must look to resolve the issue of frequent delays in payment of medical bills permanently,” the members of TANHA said.

The health care facilities under Arogyasri, EHS and JHS however, have continued uninterrupted in specialty hospitals, NIMS and Government hospitals in Hyderabad.

Major demands of TANHA members:

· Redrafting of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arogyasri

· Proper revision of packages

· Regular payments

· Clearance of pending medical bills of Rs 1100 to Rs 1200 crore

· Proper redressal system for TANHA members