Telangana clears Rs 727 crore Arogyasri dues, says Revanth Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the government is clearing Rs 727 crore Arogyasri dues and plans to refer patients to teaching hospitals. The state has already paid Rs 2,408 crore towards pending bills since December 2023

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the State government had to clear outstanding dues of Rs 727 crore, including Rs 231.44 crore payable to private hospitals under the Arogyasri scheme.

The government was formulating a plan to refer patients covered under the Arogyasri scheme to teaching hospitals. About 35 medical colleges were already functioning, but patients were not visiting these hospitals due to various reasons, he said during Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday.

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In addition to Arogyasri, the government would also allocate funds from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) to teaching hospitals. A Group One-level officer would be appointed for effective management of the teaching hospitals,” he said.

The Chief Minister stated that since December 2023, the State government has paid Rs 2,408 crore towards Arogyasri bills so far. Of these, Rs 927 crore were paid to government hospitals and Rs 1,480 crore to private hospitals. The outstanding dues to be paid were Rs 727 crore, he said.

BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao pointed out that during the BRS government rule in the 2023-24 fiscal, Rs 1,067 crore were released through the green channel for Arogyasri bills. In contrast, the Congress government during the 2024-25 fiscal had released Rs 971 crore, he said.

The BRS government had also increased the Arogyasri coverage from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Furthermore, 607 beneficiaries received treatment beyond Rs 5 lakh coverage during the BRS regime, compared to 496 beneficiaries under the Congress rule.

BRS MLA from Korutla Dr K Sanjay urged the State government to include Intensive Care Unit expenditure in the Arogyasri coverage. Corporate hospitals charge about Rs 1 lakh per day for ICU treatment, and many people were forced to sell their assets to meet the expenditure, he stated.

The BRS MLA also sought an increase in prices under EHS and the establishment of deaddiction centres in government general hospitals.