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Termination of insurance firm’s contract: Ex-health minister Soni demands high-level probe into officers’ role
The insurance firm’s contract was terminated on December 29, 2021, which would have otherwise come to an end on August 18, 2022, citing that the company was taking more than the stipulated 15 days’ time for clearing the payments of hospitals
Former Punjab health minister OP Soni on Friday demanded a probe into the role of bureaucrats in connection with the termination of contract of an insurance firm, hired to pay claims under Aayushmaan Bharat- Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojna, during the previous Congress regime.
The firm’s contract was terminated on December 29, 2021, which would have otherwise come to an end on August 18, 2022, citing that the company was taking more than the stipulated 15 days’ time for clearing the payments of hospitals.
“I am not a person who can be snubbed by IAS officers or the bureaucracy. I haven’t done any wrong. I request the CM to order a probe by vigilance, CBI or ED to ascertain the role of officers in this episode,” Soni told reporters here.
In a note to CM Bhagwant Mann (HT has access to it), Punjab health secretary Ajoy Sharma had said that after the termination, the insurance firm was absolved of all liabilities, putting the patients in the lurch.
Soni said after multiple rounds of discussions with SBI officials (SBI owns the insurance firm hired by the state) and IMA representatives, no positive steps were taken by the insurance company to settle the claims of private hospitals, which had totally stopped taking new patients. After receiving the formal approval from the CMO, the termination order of the firm was recorded on the file on December 24, he said.
Soni said the state health agency (SHA) was told to issue show-cause notice for blacklisting the firm and recover the losses. “Subsequently, the health secretary also issued the notice for blacklisting the firm on December 27. Accordingly, on December 29, the termination order was issued by CEO state health agency,” said Soni.
He alleged that when code of conduct for assembly polls was in force, the then finance secretary started negotiating with the insurance company directly without informing the minister concerned and offered the company big incentives.
“Still the company didn’t show any interest to continue further. However, no action was taken against the company by the then finance secretary nor he allowed the CEO – SHA to implement my orders of taking stern action,” said Soni.
He also alleged negligence and mismanagement by the present health secretary, Punjab, claiming there seems to have been no improvement in the scheme performance and the numbers of weekly admissions in private hospitals have fallen from 9,000 to 1,000.
