Private hospitals in Andhra Pradesh have stopped cashless treatment to below poverty line (BPL) patients under the Dr NTR Vaidya Seva (popularly known as Aarogyasri) — the state government’s flagship healthcare scheme — over non-clearance of nearly ₹3,000-crore dues pending for nearly two years, people familiar with the matter said.
The private hospitals have also stopped providing subsidised treatment to state government employees under the Employees’ Health Scheme (EHS), a representative of the AP Hospitals Association said.
“We have stopped outpatient services for the Aarogyasri patients and state government employees from Monday. However, we are entertaining emergency patients. If the government doesn’t come out with a solution, we shall stop emergency services as well from January 26,” the representative said, requesting anonymity.
As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the hospitals, the bills are supposed to be cleared within 45 days. “The scope of the treatment under Arogyasri was enhanced in the last five years and the number of procedures covered has risen from 900 to 3,200. This has caused a huge burden on the private hospitals,” he said.
There are 2,700 private hospitals in the state and 20% of them are speciality hospitals providing specialised treatment to the patients. These private hospital managements are finding it difficult to run the hospitals due to non-payment of dues by the government on time, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}There are 2,700 private hospitals in the state and 20% of them are speciality hospitals providing specialised treatment to the patients. These private hospital managements are finding it difficult to run the hospitals due to non-payment of dues by the government on time, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}“The number of patients getting treatment under the Arogyasri scheme has increased from 12 lakh (1.2 million) in 2022-23 to 13.90 lakh (1.39 million) in 2023-24. But the budget under the scheme remained the same at ₹3,350 crore. This has resulted in a backlog of payment,” he explained.
He pointed out that the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had kept the dues pending for several months. “Even the TDP-led coalition government, which took over in June last year, has not cleared the dues, which have mounted to more than ₹3,000 crore due to which hospitals are unavailable sustain services,” the association representative said.
An official of the state health department said that health minister Satyakumar Yadav would call the association leaders for talks in a day or two to resolve the issue. “The government will convince them to resume their services,” he said.
In May 2024, the Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospitals Association (ASHA) halted the treatment for the poor people under Aarogyasri and the EHS services, in protest against the pending dues from the government.
Andhra Pradesh Congress committee president YS Sharmila lashed out at the Chandrababu Naidu government for not clearing the pending dues to the private hospitals, thereby killing the spirit of Aarogyasri scheme which was introduced by former Congress chief minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
“The indifferent attitude of the government in clearing the dues to the tune of ₹3,000 crore to the network of private hospitals is nothing but a conspiracy to wind up the scheme thereby denying free treatment to the poor people,” Sharmila criticised in a post on X.