CHANDIGARH: In what will come as a relief for hundreds of aggrieved patients, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, a premier healthcare institute, Friday resumed treatment of patients from Punjab under Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-MMSBY).
The decision came after a huge public outcry against the decision of the institute for stopping treatment owing to non-payment of dues. A recent announcement by the Punjab government that all dues of the institute will be cleared within a few days is also said to have prompted PGIMER to resume healthcare services.
On August 3, PGIMER had stopped treatment of beneficiaries under the AB-MMSBY scheme from Punjab, as the state government owes ₹16 crore to the institute.
It may be mentioned that secretary, Punjab Government Ajoy Sharma had requested the UT health secretary to start accepting patients from Punjab and assured that “in the next few days, all the pending dues will be cleared.”
The letter marked to the UT health secretary says, “The insurance company has failed to honour the claims for the treatment provided by the hospitals under Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojna.”
“The Finance department of Punjab has released funds for payment of these outstanding dues, at the risk and cost of the company. The department further assures the release of due funds for future claims as well,” the letter mentions.
{{/usCountry}}“The Finance department of Punjab has released funds for payment of these outstanding dues, at the risk and cost of the company. The department further assures the release of due funds for future claims as well,” the letter mentions.
{{/usCountry}}Yashpal Garg, UT health secretary said: “UT will start accepting patient from Punjab under the insurance scheme for treatment at the hospitals of Chandigarh administration from Monday. The status of outstanding dues will be reviewed after 15 days.”
Official spokesperson, PGIMER and deputy director (administration) Gaurav Dhawan, said: “The institute has taken this decision on the directives from the Prime Minister’s and Union Health Minister’s offices to restart the programme so that the patients should not suffer,”. Dhawan said, “For the institute, patient care is the top most priority. We have restarted extending the benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme for beneficiaries from Punjab from today so that patients don’t suffer.” However, he urged the government and other concerned authorities to address the issue of non-payment of dues as soon as possible so that patient care is not hit again.
Earlier, PGIMER Chandigarh had stopped the benefits of AB-MMSBY for beneficiaries from Punjab over pending claims exceeding ₹16 crore from August 1. However, patients from Punjab were allowed to seek treatment as routine patients by paying the user charges or under other applicable welfare schemes, if so eligible.
Before taking the decision, the institute had already brought the matter to the notice of State Health Authority (SHA), Punjab and National Health Authority (NHA), on April 1, May 13 and June 7. Later the matter was even brought to the attention of senior officers of Government of Punjab.