AP govt assures private hospitals payment of Aarogyasri dues

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Specialty Hospital Association has called off its plan to cease accepting new patients under the YSR Aarogyasri scheme to provide treatment, which was set to take place from Friday onward in the state, in response to a promise made by the state government to pay off debts associated with the programme.

M.N. Harendhira Prasad, the chief executive officer of the YSR Aarogyasri Health Care Trust, met with all of the district coordinators of the programme on Thursday evening. Subsequently, he assured the managements of the private hospitals that their outstanding dues under the programme would be paid shortly after instructions were given to pay some outstanding amounts immediately.

The AP Speciality Hospital Association would continue to accept new patients under the Aarogyasri scheme without putting the patients through any challenges, as the CEO has assured the association. An earlier communication from the ASHA to the CEO stated that the current package prices were neither viable nor sustainable going forward, especially with utilisation rates ranging from 65% to 95% and no option for cross-subsidy, a critical component of the financial model for this social insurance health scheme.

It stated that the payments made by the state government in the previous month were very disappointing and did not even cover 10% of the debts already owed, and it added that hospitals could not withstand any more daily financial strain in order to provide beneficiaries with high-quality healthcare.

According to ASHA general secretary Dr. K. Vijay Kumar, "Based on assurance from the Aarogyasri CEO to clear the dues soon, we are not going ahead with our move to stop taking new cases under the scheme from Friday onwards and will continue our services under the scheme uninterrupted especially for new cases."

M.N. Harendhira Prasad, CEO of YSR Aarogyasri Health Care Trust, stated in a statement that they had paid bills totaling Rs 368 crore to the network hospitals providing healthcare to patients under the scheme. He also added that the Aarogyasri services would continue uninterrupted and gave patients the peace of mind that they would be able to receive healthcare under the scheme.