Karnataka: Notice to 26 hospitals for rejecting BPL patients

Bengaluru: There seems to be no end to the impasse over non-payment of dues by the state government to private hospitals, for providing free treatment to below poverty line (BPL) patients, under various government schemes.

In the latest development the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), which comes under the Health Ministry, has issued suspension letters to 26 private hospitals for refusal to treat BPL patients.

Though it has been more than ten day since the Federation of Healthcare Associations (FHS), an association of private hospitals, raised the issue with the Health Ministry, they are yet to get any response.

They have not cleared our dues and now they have issued suspension letters, said Dr Ajaikumar, who is with the advisory board of FHS. He pointed out that so far 26 hospitals, out of the 185, have received suspension letter from SAST.

"We have sent show-cause notice to 26 hospitals and suspended their services on January 23. Out of these, seven hospitals have been told to unconditionally withdraw from the empanelment. Hence 16 hospitals have been suspended from admitting any new patient under the medical insurance schemes, namely Vajpayee Arogya Shree Scheme (VAS), Rajiv Arogya Bhagya Scheme (RAB) and Jyothi Sanjeevini Scheme (JSS)," said Rathan Kelkar, executive director, SAST.

All the costs incurred by the private hospitals before January 23 would be paid for, he added.

Hospital authorities confused
The suspension has not gone down well with various hospitals. "We are extremely confused about the health department's next move. We do not want to say ‘no’ to BPL patients and all that we want is payment of the dues and a better model to function so that the treatment of patients under various schemes is sustainable," said Dr Madan Gaekwad, an office bearer of FHS. This suspension would only add to confusion, he added.

Another hospital source said, "Earlier we were treating children under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and accident victims under Mukhyamanthrigala Santhwana Scheme. But now, we cannot admit fresh patients and treat them. We are confused."