Story:
Telangana Private Hospitals to Stop Aarogyasri Health Services over nonpayment of dues.
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Aarogyasri Services are going to Stop in all private hospitals from August 16th. Telangana government is due of 1500 Crores to all the Hospitals
Multiple Times letter was given by private Hospitals Association, but there is no response
Fact Check:
Some messages circulating on WhatsApp and other online platforms claim Private Hospitals in Telangana are going to Stop Aarogyasri Health Services over Nonpayment of dues. They say Telangana government is due of Rs. 1500 Crores to private hospitals and there’s no response despite multiple requests. So, all the private hospitals are allegedly going to stop the Aarogyasri services from August 16th 2019. The claims are mixture of hoax and facts explained here.
Why Telangana Hospitals Claim to Stop Aarogyasri?
Telangana Superspeciality Hospitals Association has decided to stop Aarogyasri, Employee Health Scheme and other health schemes from 10th August 2019. They complain the Telangana Government did not release payments from December last year and did not respond to their series of representations. A representative of the association said the government owes Rs 700 crore and the Superspeciality hospitals are unable to bear the burden of the Aarogyasri scheme.
Private Hospitals Association in Telangana is also planning a similar move. It warned of stopping treatments under Aarogyasri scheme from August 16th if their dues are not cleared. Earlier in 2018 there were complaints some corporate hospitals began refusing to offer medical services under Aarogyasri and Employee Health Scheme (EHS). Telangana Aarogyasri Hospitals Association says the government owes private hospitals a total of Rs 1,500 crore for past 1.5 years. However, as per Telugu news reports, Health Department officials say the dues are only 800 crores.
Government Responds with Partial Payment
After the warning to stop Aarogyasri, Health Minister Etela Rajender’s office issued a press statement on 5th August. It said Telangana Government released Rs 100 crore for Aarogyasri dues and another 200 crores are to release shortly.
About Aarogyasri
Aarogyasri is healthcare program of the Government of Andhra Pradesh before the re-organization in 2014. The health scheme offers certain free medical services in private hospitals to people below the poverty line. So, denying treatment in health crisis would affect lakhs of people who cannot afford it otherwise.
On the other hand, Telangana Government plans to streamline and expand the medical services in Aarogyasri in coming years. In March 2019, Health Minister Etela Rajender said they are planning to make all corporate hospitals provide all of their facilities to Aarogyasri beneficiaries. He also said there is a need to improve Super-speciality healthcare services at government hospitals.
So, considering the partial payments from Government and assurance of pending payments in installments, Telangana pvt. hospitals are unlikely to stop Aarogyasri services.
Update: 20th Aug. 2019
From 16th August 2019, along with corporate hospitals, around 230 private hospitals in Telangana stopped treating people under the Aarogyasri and Employee Health Scheme (EHS). The move came up over non-payment of dues from Telangana state government.
Telangana Network Hospitals Association (TNHA) said they are tired of the government paying a small amount as reimbursement, each time they protest. They said they would not treat the Aarogyasri beneficiaries unless the government clears all the pending dues. However, after Health Minister Etela Rajender held talks, Super-specialty hospitals and some corporate hospitals extended the treatment again. The Minister gave an assurance for resolving the issue at the earliest.
On the other hand, as private hospitals continue to withdraw medical services under Aarogyasri, Patients were forced to opt Government hospitals. There was significant increase in number of out-patient cases in Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Gandhi Hospital and Osmania General Hospital.
Hoax or Fact:
Mixture of Hoax and Facts.
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