Cashless health insurance: Punjab govt sanctions ₹100 cr to clear dues

The previous Congress government had scrapped the agreement with the insurance firm on December 29, 2021, and the scheme was being run in trust mode since then, say Cheema

CHANDIGARH: As government hospitals in Punjab and PGIMER, Chandigarh, stopped treatment of patients under the Ayushman Bharat-Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY) due to non-payment of dues by the state government, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said that he has sanctioned ₹100 crore to clear the pending payments under the scheme.

As government hospitals in Punjab and PGIMER, Chandigarh, stopped treatment of patients under the Ayushman Bharat-Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY) due to non-payment of dues by the state government, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said that he has sanctioned ₹100 crore to clear the pending payments under the scheme

Cheema said that the hospital bills will be cleared in a one or two days. “The previous Congress government had scrapped the agreement with the insurance firm on December 29, 2021, and the scheme was being run in trust mode since then. We had received complaints about irregularities in some private hospitals and a scrutiny was ordered which took some time,” he said. The scheme provides cashless treatment of up to ₹5 lakh to a family per year and the cost of implementation is shared by the central and state governments.