Hyderabad:Medical services through government schemes such as Rajiv Aarogyasri, Employees Health Scheme and Journalists’ Health Scheme were suspended in around 370 private hospitals due to the government’s failure to address the hospitals' demands, including package revisions and clearing of outstanding dues.
"Of the six major demands put forth, the clearing of dues is the only one addressed, that too with a token release of `100 crore — minimal in the face of massive debt of over `1,200 crore. Services will continue to be withheld till our packages are revised and dues are cleared,” said Dr V. Rakesh, president of Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA).
“The department now announced monthly payments, but we have been given such hollow assurances before as well,"
In a meeting with Aarogyasri CEO Siva Shanker Lotheti on Thursday evening, TANHA members outlined their request for a bilateral MoU that reflects the interests of both the government and the hospitals, along with other demands.
"The CEO’s response indicated that the government’s reliance on TANHA hospitals has decreased as they are now building their own infrastructure. However, our observation is that the government is more focused on super-speciality hospitals, where the demand for Aarogyasri is already low. It is smaller hospitals like those in TANHA that bear the brunt of schemes like Aarogyasri, EHS and JHS. Yet our interests have been overlooked," Dr Rakesh added.
Further discussions with the CEO are expected in coming days. Dr Rakesh informed that super speciality hospitals were likely to join the discussions on January 20. “Those hospitals do not have poor patients in majority. We are the ones providing services to the poor and we have to stop our services unwillingly due to pending dues,” Dr Rakesh said.
